OF  Pfl/iV^ 
DEC  191917 


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THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR: 

"Help  from  the  Hills" 
'Sparks  from  a  Parson's  Anvil" 


1^01 


•■'.0^; 


The  AVan 
Outside  the  Church 

and  Other  Sermons 


By    y 
H.  P.  Almon  Abbott 

A.A.,  D.D. 


Ailwaukee 

The  Young  Churchman  Co. 

1917 


copyright  by 

The  Young  Churchman  Co. 

1917 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword vii 

A  Word  to  the  Man  Outside  the  Church     .     .  1 

The  Wells  of  Life 10 

Nevertheless 18 

Elisha  Modernized 26 

The  National  Sinner 35 

A  Scorned  Man 45 

The  Good  Samaritan 55 

The  Cities  of  Refuge 64 

The  Grace  of  Courage 77 

The  Opened  Books 88 

A  Pregnant  Saying 96 

The  Prodigal  Son 105 

The  Pilgrim  Fathers — A  Patriotic  Sermon  .     .  117 

George  Washington — A  Patriotic  Sermon     .     .  127 

Unusual  Methods 137 

Simon  and  Simon — An  Ordination  Sermon     .     .  145 
Like  Master  Like  Disciple — An  Ordination  Ser- 
mon    154 

The  Consequences  of  Sin 162 

First  Things  First 171 

Judas  Iscariot 187 

Stewardship 193 

The  Desire  to  See  Jesus 205 

Sticking  To  It 212 


DEDICATION. 


This  Little  Book  is  Dedicated 

By  AN  Ever  Grateful  "Son  in  the  Faith" 

To  THE  Fragrant  Memory  of 

JOHN  PHILIP  DuMOULIN.  D.D.,  D.C.L.. 
Late  Bishop  of  Niagara,  Canada. 

an  eloquent  PREACHER  OF  RIGHTEOUSNESS, 

A  FAITHFUL  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  SHEEP  COMMITTED  TO  HIS  CHARGE, 

AND  A  TRUE  SERVANT  OF   JESUS  CHRIST,  WITHOUT  FEAR  OF 

HUMAN  CENSURE  OR  REGARD  FOR  EARTHLY   PRAISE. 


FOREWORD 

T^HE  accompanying  Sermons  deal  with  the  practical- 

•'■     ities  of  the  Christian  Life.     Their  only  virtue — if 

virtue  they  possess — lies  in  their  simplicity,  and  in  the 

patent  fact  that  they  are  devoid  of  doctrinal  definition. 

The  Discourses  are  addressed  to  the  average  person 
who  sits  but  lightly  in  the  pew,  and  to  the  stimulation 
of  the  over-worked  Preacher  who  would  relate  his 
weekly  message  to  the  intelligence  of  the  business- 
wracked  worshipper  who  is  physically  incapable  of 
extraordinary  mental  effort  on  "the  one  day's  rest  in 
seven". 

It  is  hoped  that  the  obvious  imperfections  of  the 
following  pages  will  be  overlooked  in  the  earnest  desire 
of  the  author  that  they  may  minister,  under  God,  to 
the  spiritual  edification  of  the  Reader. 

Almon  Abbott. 

Trinity  Cathedral,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


A  WORD  TO  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE 
THE  CHURCH 

THE  average  man,  the  man  with,  whom  one  has 
dealings  in  society  and  in  business,  is  not 
interested  in  the  Church.  He  has  some  hard  things 
to  say  about  Organized  Christianity.  He  stands 
avowedly,  and  somewhat  self-complacently,  outside 
the  Church — to  the  relative  impotency  of  the 
Church,  and  to  the  emasculation  of  his  own  reli- 
gious influence. 

The  Man  Outside  the  Church  has  many  things 
to  say.  He  is  quite  frank  about  the  reasons  which 
prevent  his  joining  the  Church,  and  he  is  ready  at 
any  time  to  justify  his  attitude  to  all  enquirers. 
Let  us  enumerate  a  few  of  his  statements. 

(1)  "A  man  may  he  a  Christian  without  join- 
ing the  Church."  This  is,  of  course,  an  obvious 
thing  to  say,  and  it  is  more  or  less  true.  One  may 
be  a  Christian  of  Sorts  outside  the  Church,  one 
may  perform  many  Christ-like  deeds;  but  one 
cannot  be  the  best  kind  of  Christian  outside  the 
Church.     We  are  living  upon  the  benefits  of  dif- 


2  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

fused  Christianity.  The  atmosphere  of  our  thought, 
individual,  domestic,  social,  and  governmental,  is 
a  Christianized  atmosphere ;  but  atmospheric  Chris- 
tianity is  not  enough.  We  need  a  touch  of  definite- 
ness  in  all  things,  and  it  is  hardly  honest  to  accept 
benefits  and  yet  to  make  no  personal  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  source  from  whence  the  benefits  flow. 

It  is  possible  for  me  to  be  a  Free  Mason  of 
Sorts  by  living  upon  the  benefits  of  diffused  Free 
Masonry.  I  can  be  charitable,  self-sacrificingly 
charitable,  toward  all  men,  and  captious  toward 
none.  But  to  be  a  Free  Mason  in  the  fullest  sense 
of  that  much-abused  term  I  must  be  initiated  into 
the  mysteries  of  Free  Masonry,  and  place  myself 
in  living  touch  with  the  chamiels  of  its  life.  So  to 
be  a  Christian  in  utmost  fact  I  must  ally  myself 
with  The  Body  of  Believers,  with  The  Society  of 
Christians;  think  as  they  think  and  know  as  they 
know;  and  be  corporately  strengthened  by  associa- 
tion with  like  minded  Enthusiasts. 

Let  us  look  at  it  from  another  angle.  'No  man 
would  suggest  the  advisability  of  closing  down  all 
the  Houses  of  Worship  in  this  and  in  all  lands.  He 
admits,  any  man  admits,  that  with  all  their  imper- 
fections the  Churches  of  Christendom  are  serving 
to  keep  alive  Christianity  in  the  hearts  and  minds 
and  consciences  of  men.  Truth,  Christian  and 
otherwise,  as  a  matter  of  philosophy  and  observa- 
tion, may  only  be  perpetuated  through  organization, 


THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH  3 

and  to  close  all  the  Homes  of  God  in  the  Christian 
world  would  ultimately  end  in  the  perversion,  if 
not  in  the  disruption,  of  the  Christian  Evangel.  Is 
it  logical,  then,  to  disassociate  oneself  from  that 
which  is  confessedly  essential  to  the  maintenance 
of  Christianity  ? 

(2)  Me7i  say,  and  this  is  wrapt  up  with  the 
foregoing,  ''that  they  are  frightened  off  hy  the 
Hypocrites  in  the  Church."  They  are  assured  of 
the  fact  that  they  are  not  hypocritical  themselves, 
and  they  would  be  careful  of  the  company  which 
they  keep !  Now  let  us  admit,  for  the  facts  in  the 
case  demand  such  admission,  that  there  are  hypo- 
crites in  the  Church ;  that  there  are  many  hypo- 
crites, clerical  and  lay,  and  that  there  always  have 
been,  and  that  there  always  will  be.  Human  nature 
is  human  nature,  and  the  Christian  Ideal  is  a  high 
ideal,  and  we  are  told  on  divine  authority  that  the 
"wheat  and  the  tares  shall  grow  together  until  the 
harvest."  But  let  us  also  remember  and  admit — 
the  facts  in  the  case  demand  such  remembrance  and 
admission — that  there  are  Saints  in  the  Church, 
Saints,  clerical  and  lay,  and  many  of  them;  that 
there  always  have  been,  and  that  there  always  will 
be.  This  self-evident  truth  is  apt  to  be  lost  sight 
of  by  the  Man  Outside  the  Church.  I  have  met 
more  good  people — and  from  intimate  experience 
of  the  inner  workings  of  organized  Christianity 
my  testimony  counts  for  something — people  who 


4      THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

estimated  earthly  things  as  dross  that  they  might 
eventually  be  found  in  the  likeness  of  Christ  Jesus 
their  Lord,  inside  the  Church  than  I  have  discov- 
ered outside  the  Church.  This  is  to  be  expected, 
and  an  innumerable  company  of  men  bear  witness 
to  the  fact  that  the  expectation  is  abundantly  justi- 
fied. But  this  objection  to  joining  the  Church, 
that  there  are  so  many  hypocrites  within  the 
Church,  is  based  upon  a  fundamental  misconcep- 
tion. The  Church  is  not  a  Society  for  Saints;  it 
is  a  Society  for  Sinners  who  desire,  gradually,  very 
gradually,  to  become  Saints.  It  is  a  world  within 
the  world ;  an  association  of  those  who  are  not  as 
good  as  they  ought  to  be,  and  well  might  become, 
and  who  desire  to  place  themselves  in  the  most 
propitious  environment  for  the  production  of 
righteous  character.  In  the  Church  there  are  those 
who  are  at  the  very  beginning  of  their  improve- 
ment ;  men  and  women  who  are  fighting  with  wild 
beasts  at  Ephesus;  and  who  are  constantly,  or  at 
least  intermittently,  "bested"  in  the  perpetuated 
warfare  of  the  flesh  against  the  spirit.  The  aver- 
age man  inside  the  Church  "counts  not  himself  to 
have  apprehended,  he  does  not  esteem  himself  as 
one  who  has  already  attained,  either  were  already 
perfect".  Morning  and  evening  he  confesses  him- 
self to  be  "a  miserable  sinner"  and  "to  have  done 
the  things  that  he  ought  not  to  have  done",  and  "to 
have  left  undone  the  things  that  he  ought  to  have 


THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH      5 

done".  Saints  do  not  speak  in  that  language. 
When  a  man  joins  the  Church  he  does  not  shout 
from  the  house  tops,  "I  am  holier  than  thou" ;  he 
says  in  effect,  "I  need  all  the  help  that  I  can  get ; 
so  I  am  entering  the  Hot  House  of  Christian 
growth." 

Surely,  then,  to  this  degree  and  extent  Hypoc- 
risy within  the  Church  may  be  forgiven — or,  if  not 
forgiven,  understood.  But  the  nature  of  the  case 
we  presume  Hypocrisy,  and  our  presumption  is 
not  disappointed !  Whenever  a  man  puts  forward 
this  time-worn  objection  I  always  feel  like  saying, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  sometimes  do,  "Come 
along,  O  Virtuous  Brother,  and  make  one  hypocrite 
the  more !" 

But,  there  is  more  to  be  said  in  this  connection. 
It  is  not  the  army  that  should  obsess  our  conscious- 
ness. It  is  the  Cause  for  which  the  army  fights. 
There  is  a  Book  which  all  should  read.  The  title 
is  Kitchener  s  Moh.  Kitchener's  Mob  was  a  mob 
in  truth.  Laborers,  mechanics,  artisans,  clerks, 
shop-keepers,  merchants,  and  professional  men  sud- 
denly called  upon  to  enter  the  field  of  military  duty 
fresh  from  the  spade,  the  machine,  the  desk,  the 
counter,  the  office,  and  the  study.  A  disorderly 
mob ;  a  mob  with  little,  if  any,  idea  of  discipline ; 
an  aggregation  of  men  to  whom  the  profession  of 
arms  was  a  new  thing  in  the  world.  What  would 
you  have  thought  of  the  patriot  who  looked  at  such 


6  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

a  collection  of  incompetents  and  said,  "Well,  Eng- 
land is  hard  pressed :  but  I  refuse  to  associate  my- 
self with  such  an  array  of  humanity  as  that.  It  is 
not  an  army,  but  a  rabble,  and  an  ill-assorted  rabble, 
too.  My  self-respect  forbids  enlistment."  Surely, 
you  would  say,  "Fastidiousness  in  a  coward  is  not 
becoming!"  The  cause  was,  and  in  the  same  con- 
nection still  is,  everything.  The  question  was,  and 
the  question  still  is,  "what  is  the  army  fighting 
for?  If  the  cause  is  just,  to  join  the  army  is  a 
'man's  job',  and  the  greater  the  number  of  inca- 
pables  in  the  ranks  the  greater  the  need  of  capables 
such  as  I."  The  cause  for  which  the  Church  fights 
is  the  Cause  of  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  ever  the 
mob  within  the  Church ;  ever  the  raw  recruits ;  ever 
the  enlisting  of  new  and  inexperienced  soldiers 
beneath  the  Banner  of  the  Cross;  but  "we  fight 
against  Principalities  and  Powers,  against  the  rul- 
ers of  the  darkness  of  this  world". 

(3)  Men  say,  "^ Granted  that  I  ought  to  link  up 
with  the  Church,  I  hesitate  to  do  so  hecause  there 
are  so  many  different  Denominations  of  Christians 
that  I  do  not  know  which  Denomination  to  join." 
That  is  a  specious  excuse,  but  the  fact  remains 
that  it  is  specious,  and  an  excuse.  There  is  one 
army;  but  there  are  many  regiments.  How  does 
that  look  ?  The  denominations  are  all  fighting  for  a 
new  Heaven  and  a  new  Earth  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness ;  they  are  all  working,  in  season  and 


THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH      7 

out  of  season,  for  the  same  triumphant  achievement 
• — that  the  Kingdoms  of  this  world  may  become  the 
Kingdom  of  Our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ.  What- 
ever the  battle  cries ;  whatever  the  flags  unfurled ; 
whatever  the  confused  din  of  the  conflict ;  the  army, 
numerous  as  are  the  battalions  and  regiments  and 
brigades,  is  engaged  in  the  same  offensive.  It  is 
storming  the  citadels  of  Sin  and  Satan  and  death. 
Beneath  all  uniforms,  and  diversified  terms  of 
enrollment,  and  the  apparent  smartness  or  dowdi- 
ness  of  the  rank  and  file  in  this  department  and  in 
that ;  far  below  all  catch  words,  and  doctrinal  for- 
mulae, and  external  differentiations,  the  army  is 
one,  and  it  were  better  to  belong  to  any  corps  than 
to  stand  outside  and  see  the  hosts  sweep  by.  As 
Rupert  Brooke  said,  "Well;  if  Armageddon  is  on 
I  suppose  it  is  a  man's  place  to  be  there."  The 
Spiritual  Armageddon,  speaking  untechnically,  is 
ever  on,  and  woe  to  the  man  who  sidesteps  his  "call 
to  the  colors". 


Such,  then,  are  some  of  the  things  that  the  man 
outside  the  Church  says  about  the  wisdom,  or 
advisability,  of  coming  inside  the  Church.  He 
tabooes  Organized  Christianity  because  in  his 
opinion  it  is  possible  to  be  a  Christian  and  not 
join  the  Church ;  because  there  are  so  many  hypo- 
crites in  the  Church;  and  because  the  Denomina- 


8      THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

tions  of  Christians  are  so  numerous  that  it  is 
difficult  to  select  one  denomination  in  preference 
to  another. 


'Now,  why  have  I  taken  the  trouble  to  say  all 
this;  and  wherein  lies  the  pertinency  of  remarks 
such  as  these  ? 

My  motive  is  this :  I  want  to  persuade  those  of 
you  who  have  been  resting  upon  this  pile  of  plaus- 
ibilities to  reopen  the  whole  question,  and  to  con- 
scientiously determine  whether  or  no  you  have 
given  the  matter  sufficient  consideration. 

The  fight  is  on ;  the  fight  is  on  in  living  earnest, 
and  we  who  are  affiliated  with  the  Church,  and 
with  the  work  of  the  Church,  realize  that  we  can- 
not, humanly  speaking,  carry  the  warfare  far  into 
the  enemy's  country  and  achieve  the  ultimate  vic- 
tory without  your  devoted  assistance ;  without  the 
professed  and  actualized  enthusiasm  and  coopera- 
tion of  all  those  who  account  Jesus  Christ  the 
Friend  above  all  other  friends.  Summing  up  our 
prospects  we  see  that  the  man  outside  the  Church  is 
so  often  the  man  whom  we  need  inside  the  Church ; 
and  that  the  recruits  whom  we  crave  are  the  whole- 
souled,  kingly-qualitied  men  who  are,  so  far  as 
the  Church  is  concerned,  "passing  by  on  the  other 
side".  We  call  to  you,  and  endeavor  to  attract  your 
attention,  my  brothers,  as  you  "pass  by"  across  the 


THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH      9 

street  from  us,  and  tell  you  that  our  God-Blessed 
and  Christ-Generaled  Army  is  weak  without  you, 
and  that  we  shall  never  muster  our  full  strength 
until  you  have  thrown  in  your  lot  with  us,  and  have 
begun  to  "do  us  good". 


THE  WELLS  OF  LIFE  * 
Genesis  26:  20-23.     Esek,  Sitnah,  Rehoboth,  Sheba. 

THESE  are  the  names  of  the  wells  of  Isaac  in 
the  valley  of  Gerar.     Our  subject  to-day  is 
well-digging. 

It  is  the  middle  of  winter.  Isaac  and  his 
companions  are  in  a  place  through  which  the  sum- 
mer torrents  poured.  The  springs  have  all  dried 
up,  the  musical  brooks  have  sung  themselves  to 
sleep,  and  there  is  a  scarcity  of  water.  The  Is- 
raelites are  athirst,  and  in  self-defence  they  set 
to  work  to  remedy  the  difficulty.  They  dig  deep 
down  into  the  ground,  and  find  that  for  which 
they  are  in  search,  drink  for  their  parched  throats 
and  fevered  lips.  Hardly,  however,  have  they  be- 
gun to  quench  their  thirst  when  the  well  is  snatched 
away  from  them  by  roaming  hordes  of  Philistines 
who  are  in  search  of  water,  too.  These  men  with 
the  insolence  of  superior  force  assert  "the  water 
is  ours".  And  Isaac,  the  meek  and  gentle  son  of 
Abraham,  called  the  well  Esel;,  meaning  strife. 


♦  This  sermon  is  based  upon  a  study  by  Dr.  Joseph  Parlser. 


THE  WELLS  OF  LIFE  1 1 

An  old  story,  my  friends,  or  rather  the  ancient 
preface  to  an  oft-repeated  tale;  for  it  sounds 
strangely  familiar,  and  it  has  a  smell  of  immortal- 
ity about  it.  We  are  all  well-diggers.  Water  is 
sometimes  woefully  scarce  in  life,  and  we  are  thirsty 
creatures  by  nature  and  education.  We  have  all 
digged  this  first  well  of  Isaac ;  the  well  Esek,  strife. 
We  start  out  in  our  business  or  profession,  we  em- 
bark upon  a  social  career,  and  we  strike  water; 
a  refreshing  stream  of  recognition  and  success. 
Then,  behold,  the  Philistines  have  come  along,  the 
greedy,  thirsty,  big-mouthed  Philistines,  and  we 
lose  what  we  had  gained. 

If  men  and  women  find  water  they  will  not  be 
left  alone;  be  quite  sure  of  that;  they  must  pay 
the  penalty  of  their  ingenuity.  In  a  stupid  world 
individual  cleverness  will  not  be  tolerated  for  a 
moment.  If  Isaac's  men  had  discovered  nothing 
but  hard  rock  the  inhabitants  of  Gerar  would  never 
have  spoken  to  them,  nor  disputed  their  occupa- 
tion ;  they  could  have  drunken  to  their  thirsts'  full 
content.  It  is  what  we  find  that  excites  the  sur- 
prise and  the  cupidity  of  those  who  are  not  in 
sympathy  with  us.  If  you  plunge  your  hand  into 
the  tempestuous  wind  and  pluck  nothing  out  of  it 
save  air  your  unkindest  neighbor  will  not  molest 
you;  he  will  let  you  rest  in  peace;  whilst  a  smile 
of  beatific  benevolence  will  illumine  his  weather- 
furrowed  face.  But  if  you  bring  back  news  of  wells 


12  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

and  mines  and  fruit  trees  and  plentiful  harvests; 
if  the  paean  of  victory  and  the  chant  of  praise  is 
sounding  in  your  ears,  then  beware.  You  will  be 
blackguarded  for  your  popularity;  your  motives 
will  be  maligned,  and  a  river  of  innuendoes  will 
flow  through  the  ranks  of  your  contemporaries.  If 
you  take  this  view  of  life  it  will  help  you  to  equa- 
nimity, and  serve  to  bolster  up  your  tottering 
strength  and  self-respect.  Success  is  unpopular  in 
exact  ratio  to  the  prevalence  of  failure,  and  the 
over  plus  of  mediocrity.  Envy,  malice,  and  all 
uncharitableness  are  a  vindication  of  the  superior 
quantity  and  quality  of  water  in  your  well.  You 
have  achieved  EseJt,  strife. 


And  now  what  did  Isaac  do?  He  said,  "let 
us  pass  on  and  find  another  well."  He  was  a  phi- 
losopher, was  Isaac.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  higher 
critics  are  doing  away  with  such  a  shining  pattern 
for  every  age.  He  wasted  no  time  over  useless 
haggling ;  he  realized  that  discretion  was  the  better 
part  of  valor.  And  so  his  workmen,  no  doubt 
with  many  a  muttered  oath,  for  workmen  are  not 
overfond  of  work,  unlocked  their  bags  of  tools,  and 
set  to  digging  once  more.  Again  their  labors  were 
rewarded  with  success,  and  the  sparkling  water 
welled  up  from  its  hidden  recesses.  We  may 
imagine  the  laughter  and  the  joyous  repartee  as 


THE  WELLS  OF  LIFE  13 

they  cast  themselves  down  in  fatigued  abandon- 
ment, and  quaffed  the  rippling  cup.  Their  satis- 
faction, however,  was  soon  disturbed,  and  they 
sprang  to  their  feet  in  terrified  affright  as  the  well- 
known  cries  and  imprecations  of  the  malevolent 
Philistines  smote  upon  their  ears.  History  re- 
peats itself,  and  this  oasis  even  as  the  former  is 
wrested  from  their  grasp.  And  Isaac  called  the 
name  of  that  well  Sitnah,  meaning  hatred. 

So  is  it  ever.  After  Esek  we  have  gone  ahead 
and  found  water  once  more.  Success  with  its  en- 
folding mantle  has  after  months  or  years  enwrapped 
us  as  in  days  of  yore.  It  is  doubly  precious  because 
we  have  had  the  harrowing  contrast.  But  alas  our 
ecstasy  is  short-lived.  One  success  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world  may  be  forgotten  if  not  forgiven,  but  two  suc- 
cesses are  unpardonable.  At  the  first  offence  there 
may  be  mere  strife,  contention  of  a  worthy  sort; 
at  the  second  offence  there  is  the  sinister  frown, 
the  detestation,  the  overcharging  hatred.  To  such 
a  pass,  as  experience  proves,  is  human  feeling 
driven  by  the  sight  of  another's  repeated  success. 

Are  you  the  Philistine ;  is  envy  your  besetting 
sin?  Let  us  beware  of  it.  It  hinders  prayer,  it 
befogs  heaven,  it  dries  up  the  fountain  of  charity 
in  our  hearts,  and  tvirns  the  crystal  water  into 
poison.  It  takes  the  angel  out  of  us,  it  slays  our 
very  soul,  it  chokes  the  sweet  song  in  our  throats, 
and  turns  the  milk  of  human  kindness  into  gall  and 


14  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

bitterness.  It  may  seem  to  be  expending  itself 
upon  the  outward  object,  but  in  reality  it  is  ruining 
the  life  of  the  envious  one.  It's  disaster  is  sub- 
jective. We  may  pity  Isaac,  but  if  we  are  long 
sighted  enough  our  utmost  compassion  will  go  out 
to  the  envious  Philistines. 


Poor  Isaac,  we  say,  his  long  suffering  patience 
must  have  been  sorely  tried.  What  was  his  be- 
havior upon  the  occasion  of  this  second  rebuff? 
Why,  Isaac  had  a  sweet  nature,  what  we  call  a 
good-tempered  disposition,  he  was  not  soured  as 
most  of  us  would  have  been.  He  did  not  know 
how  to  be  sulky;  he  refused  to  woo  himself  into 
self-congratulatory  slumber  by  the  happy  pessimism 
of  adverse  circumstances.  "He  removed  from 
thence  and  digged  another  well."  Surely  having 
digged  two  wells,  and  having  been  driven  away 
from  both  of  them,  he  had  some  cause  for  a  pouting 
of  the  lips,  a  hanging  of  the  head,  and  a  groaning 
out  of  bitter  words.  But  Isaac's  motto  was  ex- 
celsior. "He  removed  from  thence  and  digged 
another  well."  And  for  that  the  Philistines  strove 
not,  and  he  called  the  name  of  it  Rehohoth.  That 
is  room;  a  place  to  stand  in. 

After  Esehj  and  Sitnah  the  sons  of  men  who 
have  will  power  and  determination  start  in  business 
once  more,  hang  up  the  sign  of  their  profession 


THE  WELLS  OF  LIFE  15 

where  all  may  see,  and,  nothing  daunted,  fight  the 
ceaseless  battle  of  their  ambition.  It  takes  a  man 
who  is  a  man,  a  woman  who  is  a  woman,  to  do  this. 
To  dig  one  well  is  weary  work,  but  to  dig  three 
wells  is  almost  superhuman.  There  are  those, 
however,  who  along  with  Isaac  have  done  this  thing. 
This  is  the  secret  of  fame ;  this  is  the  safeguard  of 
enduring  success. 

Rehoboth,  that  is  the  well  that  we  want  above 
all  other  wells.  That  is  the  water  which  if  we 
drink  of  it  will  never  permit  us  to  thirst  again. 
Esek  and  Sitnah  were  not  our  rightful  wells ;  we 
were  intended  for  greater  things.  The  world  is 
bigger  than  any  part  of  it,  the  universe  is  larger 
than  any  section  of  its  crust ;  if  we  are  driven  away 
from  this  place,  or  that  place,  we  may  find  a  better 
place  to  dig  a  well.  That  is  the  way  to  wear  out 
an  enemy ;  that  is  the  way  to  conquer  an  envious 
population.  Hatred  and  strife  have  their  sur- 
renders. The  Philistine  herdsmen  are  not  peri- 
patetic for  the  space  of  a  thousand  miles.  Reho- 
both, room,  an  area  where  we  can  fling  out  our 
arms,  and  stand  on  our  head,  and  kick  our  heels 
together,  if  we  will.  There  is  a  place  for  every- 
thing, and  everything  in  its  place ;  there  is  a  round 
hole  for  every  round  peg.  There  is,  as  Isaac  and 
Herbert  Spencer  alike  assert,  a  correspondence  with 
environment,  a  position  which  calls  out  our  best 
power,   and  unloosens  our   dormant  possibilities. 


16  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Some  people  have  a  long  and  tiresome  search  for 
Rehoboth;  but  when  they  find  it  you  would  not 
know  them  for  the  same  individuals — ^life  has  be- 
gun, hope  is  consummated,  and  work  is  play.  This 
is  the  will  of  God  for  you  and  me ;  our  beautiful 
home,  our  happy  family,  our  prosperous  business, 
our  joying  Christianity.  When  this  well  is  digged 
it  is  only  after  strife  and  hatred,  but  our  endur- 
ance of  these  conditions  has  vindicated  our  right 
to  live,  and  even  acrimonious  Philistia  has  a  word 
of  praise.  She  remembereth  no  more  the  wells  of 
Sitnah  and  Esek  for  joy  that  a  man  is  bom  into 
the  v/orld. 


After  this  Isaac  digs  another  well ;  he  has  the 
habit,  and  good  habits  are  as  strong  as  bad.  "And 
Isaac's  servants  came  and  told  him  that  they  had 
found  water,  and  he  called  it  Sheba".  That  is 
an  oath ;  a  blessing  settled  forever,  l^oble  Isaac, 
he  knew  not  only  how  to  work,  but  how  to  praise. 
He  was  thankful  as  well  as  energetic.  When  he 
had  reached  the  satisfaction  of  his  dreams  he  was 
grateful  to  God ;  he  lifted  his  hands  toward  heaven, 
and  offered  himself  and  his  success  as  an  evening's 
sacrifice. 

This  last  well  is  a  well  that  few  people  dig. 
Their  attitude  is,  "the  might  of  mine  own  right 
arm  hath  gotten  me  this  victory."  But,  unless 
we  would  be  ingrates,  after  Rehoboth  we  must  dig 


THE  WELLS  OF  LIFE  17 

another  well ;  a  covenant  betwixt  us  and  God.  We 
must  join  the  House  of  Aaron,  and  say,  "His 
mercy  endureth  forever." 


Such,  then,  is  the  normal  course  of  human  life. 
Strife,  hatred,  a  place  to  live  in,  and  a  striking 
of  the  hands  together  in  holy  covenant.  Happy 
indeed  is  the  consummation;  worth,  well  worth, 
the  biiifeting. 

It  was  all  exemplified  in  Jesus  Christ,  the 
second  Isaac.  He  came  to  His  own  and  His  own 
received  Him  not,  Eseh.  He  came  again  and  He 
was  despised  and  rejected  of  men,  Sitnah.  He 
came  again  and  He  is  to-day  finding  room  within 
the  hearts  of  men,  Rehohoth.  He  is  coming  again 
and  He  will  realize  the  oath,  the  covenant,  that  He 
shall  have  the  heathen  for  His  inheritance,  and 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  His  possession, 
Sheba. 

Wells — I  like  the  word.  It  is  full  of  music. 
Wells,  "with  joy  shall  ye  draw  water  out  of  the 
wells  of  salvation."  "Whosoever  shall  drink  of 
the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ; 
but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him 
a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  eternal  life." 

"Ho,  everyone  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the 
waters."  Whosoever  ivill  may  come.  The  invita- 
tion is  ours.  We  are  not  satisfied  with  earthly 
waters,  for,  our  souls  are  athirst  for  the  living  God. 


NEVERTHELESS 

St.  Luke  5 :  4-5.     "Master,  we  have  toiled  all  the  night, 

and  have  taken  nothing ;  nevertheless,  at  Thy 

word  I  will  let  down  the  net." 

NEVERTHELESS— it  is  the  speech  of  moral 
heroism;  it  is  the  language  of  sovereign  con- 
quest. It  is  the  word  which  has  initiated  great 
reforms,  and  consummated  mighty  achievements. 
Nothing  great  and  good  has  ever  been  formulated, 
and  achieved  without  it.  "We  have  toiled  all  the 
night,  and  have  taken  nothing — Nevertheless."  It 
was  the  determination  to  wring  success  out  of  de- 
feat, and  to  make  the  night  of  failure  minister  to 
the  dawn  of  hopeful  endeavor. 

The  Sea  of  Galilee  had  refused  to  unburden 
its  wealth  of  riches.  The  fishermen,  who  through 
years  of  experience  knew  its  waters  from  shore  to 
shore,  had  cast  their  nets  from  sundown  to  sunrise 
in  the  most  likely  places,  places  where  heretofore 
the  fish  were  wont  to  congregate,  and  emptiness, 
not  fulness,   had  crowned  their  repeated  efforts. 


NEVERTHELESS  19 

"They  had  toiled  all  the  night,  and  had  taken 
nothing."  Simon  and  his  companions  were  tired 
out.  There  is  no  toil  so  arduous  as  fruitless  toil ; 
there  is  no  labor  so  exacting  as  labor  that  brings  no 
results.  The  hardest  work  of  all  work  is  the  look- 
ing for  work.  The  fishermen  were  disgusted,  as 
well  they  might  be;  hours  of  netting,  of  rowing 
their  craft  from  shore  to  shore,  and  nothing  to 
show  for  it.  They  were  not  amateurs,  they  were 
professionals,  fishing  was  their  livelihood,  and 
Peter  would  go  home  to  his  faithful  wife  and 
expectant  children,  empty  handed. 

In  solemn,  but  ominous  silence,  they  have 
beached  their  boat,  and  are  washing  their  nets. 
There  is  compensate  joy  in  washing  the  nets  when 
they  are  filled  with  the  scales  of  a  mighty  catch, 
but  it  is  a  burdensome  affair  to  wash  the  nets  when 
the  meshes  are  unstained  by  captive,  squirming 
fishes.  The  fishermen  were  dispirited,  and  worked 
in  sullen  apathy. 

Then  upon  the  shore  beside  them  appears 
Jesus.  He  says,  "Let  down  your  nets  for  a 
draught."  Apparently  He  is  unaware  of  the  re- 
sultless  search,  and  yet,  when  He  speaks,  He  ever 
speaks  to  some  purpose.  Peter,  the  spokesman, 
makes  reply,  "Master,  we  have  toiled  all  the  night 
and  have  taken  nothing,  Nevertheless  at  Thy  word 
I  will  let  down  the  net."  It  is  the  decisive  answer 
of  a  brave  man.     He  will  not  let  the  past  over- 


20  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

shadow  the  future.  To-day  in  its  possibilities  must 
not  be  chained  to  the  failure  of  yesterday.  The 
morning  must  not  be  the  bondslave  of  the  night. 

"Nevertheless — /  will."  Brave  Simon.  And 
his  courage  was  crowned  with  success.  Under  the 
guidance  of  Jesus  the  deeps  were  made  to  give 
forth  their  storehouse,  and  the  directed  nets  en- 
closed a  multitude  of  fishes,  so  that  they  began  to 
break. 

And  we,  like  Simon,  have  toiled  all  the  night, 
and  have  taken  nothing.  We  have  tried  and  tried 
again,  and  the  issue  has  been  failure.  We  have 
agonized  even  unto  blood,  and  the  months  and 
years  that  have  gone  have  brought  us  null  and  void 
to  the  verge  of  the  present  day.  We  are  sick  of 
it  all ;  wearied  unto  death.  We  shall  give  up  try- 
ing, cease  from  repeated  effort,  from  perpetuated 
heartbreak ;  beach  our  boat,  fold  up  the  nets,  turn 
our  back  upon  the  useless  toil,  and  go  home. 

Is  not  this  our  attitude  in  respect  of  sin — of 
spiritual  advancement — of  worldly  promotion — of 
the  approximation  of  our  souls  content  ?  We  have 
toiled;  Ah  God  how  we  have  toiled,  and  it  has 
been  a  toiling  through  the  night,  and  we  are  none 
the  better  but  rather  the  worse,  none  the  richer, 
but  rather  the  poorer,  none  the  happier,  but  rather 
the  sadder.  We  have  taken  nothing,  nothing.  We 
shall  give  up  the  striving,  cease  from  laborious 
struggle,  take  our  ease  and  let  the  world  roll  by. 


NEVERTHELESS  21 

My  friends,  the  only  failure  is  the  armchair  at- 
titude. The  only  despair  is  the  despair  of  inaction. 
The  only  damnation  is  to  let  what  has  been  be- 
come the  overruling  tyrant  of  what  is  and  of  what 
is  yet  to  be.  Only  so  may  we  be  a  slave ;  fettered  to 
the  galley  of  the  past. 

When  are  we  in  the  throes  of  such  a  hopeless 
condition;  when  is  our  failure  a  failure  writ  in 
uncials ;  when  are  we  cast  as  drifting  derelicts  upon 
the  shores  of  uselessness  ? 

When  we  permit  the  moral  disaster  of  the  past 
to  determine  our  future  destiny:  To  toil  all  the 
night  and  to  take  nothing,  and  to  let  that  experience 
vitiate  the  opportunities  of  to-day,  is  irremediable 
misfortune ;  it  is  to  bow  down  to  the  past,  and  to 
treat  it  as  a  god.  It  is  to  be  the  bondslave,  shackled 
and  manacled,  of  a  hopeless  Siva;  the  god  with  a 
hundred  hands,  each  containing  a  thunderbolt. 

Are  you  in  such  a  condition  ?  You  have  come 
to  realize  in  one  of  the  interludes  of  existence  that 
there  is  a  passion  which  for  years  has  been  work- 
ing devastation  in  your  life.  By  passion,  I  do  not 
merely  mean  animal  passion;  there  are  passions 
that  draw  us  with  silken  threads  as  well  as  with 
cartropes;  with  gossamer  gause  as  well  as  with 
cables ;  passions  of  vanity,  or  pride,  or  illicit  ambi- 
tion. You  have  taken  issue  with  the  monster,  and 
have  resolved  to  oust  his  influence.  You  have 
made  good  resolutions,  and,  when  you  made  them 


22  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

you  meant  them.  But,  you  have  made  little  head- 
way against  your  besetting  sin;  for,  alas,  passion 
is  imbued  with  the  subtlety  of  Satan  its  master. 
Passions  come  dancing  into  our  lives  like  kittens. 
We  play  with  them;  they  play  with  us.  They 
come  dancing  in  and  dancing  out  again.  Such 
harmless  little  kittens;  soft  and  purring  to  the 
touch ;  gentle  and  enticing.  But  —  the  time 
goes  on,  and  they  come  as  tigers,  and  they  come 
to  stay. 

The  keeper  at  the  Zoo  tosses  a  lion  cub  up  into 
the  air,  and  catches  it  in  his  arms.  Just  a  cub ;  a 
sweet,  soft,  fluffy  cub;  up  it  goes,  and  down  it 
comes.  But,  the  keeper  will  not  do  that  two  years 
hence ;  for  the  cub  has  grown  meanwhile,  and  is  a 
beast  with  teeth  that  bite,  and  claws  that  pierce, 
and  a  voice  that  issues  in  frightening  roar. 

So  is  it  with  our  passion.  It  came  so  softly; 
it  danced  into  our  life,  and  it  danced  out  again. 
It  was  such  a  playful  passion ;  so  amenable  to  rea- 
son; so  capable  of  subjugation  at  our  wish,  and 
word  of  command.  But,  the  passion  has  grown; 
it  has  developed  with  our  life;  it  is  a  beast  to  be 
reckoned  with ;  and  we  instead  of  mastering  it  are 
in  a  fair  way  of  being  mastered  by  it.  It  is  the 
periodicity  of  passion  which  constitutes  its  thral- 
dom. It  comes,  and  it  goes ;  it  comes,  and  it  goes. 
To-day  it  has  left  us;  how  virtuous  we  are!  Its 
retrospect  is  loathsome;  we  trample  the  recollec- 


NEVERTHELESS  23 

tion  beneath  our  feet.  We  are  free;  arbiters  of 
our  own  destiny;  how  could  we  ever  have  given 
hospitality  to  the  monster?  We  make  all  sorts 
of  good  resolves.  But,  here  it  comes  again;  its 
periodicity  has  returned.  The  passion  is  upon  us 
once  more  in  full  and  burning  force.  All  our 
fences  are  broken;  our  ramparts  are  destroyed; 
our  trenches  are  occupied;  and  resolutions  fade 
away.  The  passion  conquers,  enthralls,  intoxi- 
cates, and  once  more  we  fall.  The  periodicity 
of  passion;  ah,  there  is  its  sting,  and  there  its 
perpetuated  tyranny  over  our  disaster  strewn 
lives. 

Well;  you  have  toiled  all  the  night  against 
your  passion,  and  have  taken  nothing;  you  would 
beach  the  boat,  return  homeward,  bolt  the  door, 
and  sleep  the  hours  away.  You  permit  the  moral 
disaster  of  the  past  to  determine  your  future 
destiny.  This,  and  this  alone,  is  failure.  But, 
even  yet  there  come  softening  seasons.  I  have  a 
little  patch  of  ground.  In  the  spring  time  I  plant 
tender  little  saplings.  The  rain  gives  them  drink ; 
the  sun  nurtures  them  with  its  warming  rays; 
they  appear  above  the  earth.  I  tend  them  carefully, 
I  rake  and  weed.  But  as  the  weeks  go  on  my  in- 
terest in  the  saplings  diminishes.  There  is  a 
drought.  I  forget  to  water  them.  Poisonous 
growths  grow  up  beside  them;  I  cease  to  cull  and 
hew;  the  saplings  die.     The  plot  of  ground  is  a 


24  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

patch  of  death.  So,  into  our  lives  come  softening 
seasons.  The  new  year,  when  the  solemnity  of 
passing  time  overawes  us  for  a  while.  What  seed- 
lings we  plant  of  good  resolve ;  of  resolute  determi- 
nation to  master  the  master  who  masters  us.  A 
loved  one  dies;  sorrow  tills  the  sterile  soil  of  our 
lives.  Its  soft  touch  brings  growths  to  light; 
growths  which  we  had  deemed  dead  in  childhood's 
days.  But  time  moves  on;  sorrow  comes  to  be 
accepted  as  an  accomplished  fact,  and  weeds  spring 
up,  the  drought  of  inaction  paralyzes  our  resolves, 
and  the  tender  saplings  are  bent,  and  withered, 
and  withering,  die.  What  does  this  mean?  It 
means  that  behind  us  we  have  a  patch  of  dead 
wood ;  a  mine  of  dissipated  energy.  It  is  a  peril- 
ous thing.  We  look  back;  we  tried  and  failed. 
We  look  ahead,  if  we  try  again  we  are  bound 
to  fail  again.  The  moral  disaster  of  the  past  be- 
comes our  tyrant,  and  we  permit  it  to  determine 
our  future  destiny.  But,  modem  Simons  that  we 
are,  what  does  the  Master  say '(  "Launch  out  into 
the  deep — the  old  deep — and  let  down  your  nets 
for  a  draught."  The  night  is  past;  the  sun  is 
risen ;  the  earth  is  gilded  with  a  new  flooded  radi- 
ance; the  morn,  the  new  mom,  the  mom  never 
seen  before,  is  come.  Away  with  the  defeat  of 
yesterday,  all  hail  the  privileges  of  to-day.  "Master, 
we  have  toiled  all  the  night,  and  have  taken 
nothing.     Nevertheless,   at  Thy  word  I  will  let 


NEVERTHELESS  25 

down  the  net."  The  defeat  of  yesterday  under 
Christ's  manipulation  is  intended  to  minister  to 
the  success  of  the  future.  Arise,  disciple  of  the 
Nevertheless;  apostle  of  the  Living  God. 


THE  STORY  OF  ELISHA  MODERNIZED 

I    Kings    19:  19.      "He    departed    thence,    and    found 
Elisha,  the  son  of  Shaphat,  who  was  ploughing 
with  twelve  yoke  of  oxen,  and   Elijah 
cast  his  mantle  upon  him. 

ELISHA,  the  servant  and  successor  of  Elijah, 
was  the  son  of  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Israel. 
Shaphat,  his  father,  was  a  man  of  substance ;  but, 
in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  his  people,  he  had 
reared  his  son  to  a  life  of  hard  labor. 

In  the  setting  of  our  text  we  find  Elisha  a  sort 
of  superior  officer  over  his  father's  ploughmen; 
but  a  ploughman  himself.  One  spring  day  in  the 
early  afternoon  when  Shaphat's  ploughs  Avere  at 
work  in  the  verdant  meadows,  and  Elisha's  plough 
was  the  foremost  of  them  all,  Elijah,  the  white- 
haired  prophet,  came  up  behind  Elisha,  and  cast 
his  coarse  spun  mantle  over  the  younger  man's 
shoulders.  No  word  was  spoken ;  but  the  symbolism 
of  the  act  conveyed  it's  meaning  to  Shaphat's  son, 
and  he  was  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision. 


ELISHA  MODERNIZED  27 

Shaphat  was  growing  old,  and  Elisha  would  soon 
have  inherited  the  rich  farm  lands  of  Abel-Meho- 
lah ;  but  in  a  moment,  in  spontaneous  renunciation, 
Elisha  determined  to  be  a  spiritual  ploughman  in 
the  Lord's  vineyard  for  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
To  fortify  his  resolution  he  made  a  fire  of  the 
wood  of  his  familiar  plough ;  slew  his  oxen ;  and 
"burned  his  bridges"  behind  him.  Then  he  arose, 
and  went  after  Elijah,  and  ministered  unto  him. 

Such  were  the  circumstances  of  the  calling  of 
Elisha.  Some  years  afterwards,  at  the  death  of 
his  master,  he  accepted  his  appointment  as  the 
divinely  appointed  successor  of  Elijah.  "And 
when  the  sons  of  the  prophets  that  were  at  Jericho 
saw  him,  they  said,  'the  spirit  of  Elijah  doth  rest 
upon  Elisha.'  And  they  came  to  meet  him,  and 
bowed  themselves  to  the  ground  before  him." 

There  are  many  lessons  suggested  in  the  ancient 
record.    Let  us  enumerate  a  few. 

(1)  There  is  a  note  of  optimism  with  regard 
to  the  future:  The  world,  and  the  Church,  live 
and  thrive  from  generation  to  generation  under  the 
guiding  and  upholding  hand  of  God.  We  are  apt 
to  magnify  the  past  at  the  expense  of  the  future ; 
to  drop  quietly  all  shadows  from  the  picture  as  time 
goes  on;  and  to  gild  the  yesterdays  with  all  sorts 
of  false  romance.  We  speak  of  the  good  old  days ; 
of  the  age  of  faith;  and  speak  of  "now-a-days" 
with  a  shake  of  the  head,  and  a  long-drawn  sigh. 


28  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

The  world  in  general,  and  the  Church  in  particular, 
are  going  "to  the  dogs".  This  is  the  attitude  of 
the  adult  who  contrasts  the  righteous  behavior  of 
the  days  of  his  childhood  with  the  extraordinary 
license  current  in  the  behavior  of  the  succeeding 
generation.  This  is  the  attitude  of  the  man  of 
slight  historical  perspective  who  labors  under  the 
mistaken  impression  that  at  one  time  humanity 
achieved  approximate  perfection,  and  that  it  has 
systematically  deteriorated  ever  since.  This  is  the 
attitude  of  the  so-called  Orthodox  believer  who 
shudders  at  the  impious  liberalism  of  modern 
thought,  and  who  forgets  that  the  spirit  is  leading 
the  Church  into  all  truth.  In  every  department  of 
thought  there  is  to  be  discovered  this  unhealthy  pes- 
simism of  outlook — comparing  disadvantageously 
the  present  with  the  past,  and  prognosticating 
a  reigii  of  dire  calamity  in  the  untraversed  future. 
Elijah,  the  Sinai  of  a  man,  with  a  heart  like  a 
thunderstorm,  was  at  one  time  in  his  life  guilty 
of  this  spirit  of  depreciation.  He  sat  one  day 
under  a  Juniper  tree,  and  felt  that  the  times  were 
out  of  joint.  God  had  apparently  forsaken  His 
inheritance,  and  was  forgetful  of  His  people's  wel- 
fare. The  future  loomed  menacingly  before  him, 
and  he  saw  the  faith  of  Jehovah  corrupted  to  the 
vanishing  point.  His  work  seemed  to  have  come 
to  nothing,  and,  so  far  as  he  could  perceive,  there 
was  no  qualified  man  to  take  up  his  task  when  he 


ELISHA  MODERNIZED  29 

should  lay  it  down.  ''It  is  enough,"  he  cried, 
"now,  O  Lord,  take  away  my  life;  for  I  am  no 
better  than  my  fathers."  The  fact  was,  however, 
that  whilst  Elijah  was  repining  under  the  juniper 
tree  God  was  preparing  the  young  ploughman  of 
Abel-Meholah  to  wear  Elijah's  mantle,  and  to  carry 
on  Elijah's  work. 

Let  us  recall  this  fact  when  we  are  forecasting 
the  collapse  of  the  Church ;  when  we  are  bemoaning 
the  fall  of  this,  or  that,  "great  man  in  Israel" ; 
when  we  are  tempted  to  contrast  unfavorably  to- 
day with  both  yesterday,  and  to-morrow.  God  is 
not  asleep ;  He  has  not  forsaken  His  world ;  He  is 
rearing  His  great  men  for  the  great  hour ;  and  we 
shall  eventually  be  assured  of  the  fact  that  "The 
Lord  is  King;  be  the  people  never  so  impatient". 
There  are  to-day,  at  school,  at  college,  in  the  shop, 
and  in  the  office,  young  men  and  young  women  who 
in  due  course  of  time  shall  be  as  influential  preach- 
ers, and  writers,  and  statesmen,  and  social  leaders, 
as  any  that  the  world  has  ever  known — and  far 
better  adapted  to  the  times  and  seasons  than  any 
of  their  mighty  predecessors.  Elisha  was  not  Eli- 
jah; but  he  was  the  gift  of  the  Living  God  to  the 
Living  Israel  of  his  day  and  generation.  God  will 
look  after  the  Church  and  the  Avorld  far  better  than 
the  most  anxious-minded^  and  censorious,  of  His 
people.  This  is  the  greatest  age  that  has  ever  burst 
over  the  hills  of  time,  and  to-morrow  will  be  greater. 


30  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

All  that  we  have  to  do  is  to  possess  ourselves  of 
faith  in  God;  of  faith  in  humanity;  of  salutary- 
faith  in  ourselves;  and  to  go  about  our  business. 

(2)  In  this  story  there  is  a  note  of  generous 
admiration:  The  fifty  sons  of  the  prophets  be- 
haved towards  Elisha  in  a  manner  which  it  were 
well  for  us  to  emulate  to-day.  They  bow  down  be- 
fore a  better  man  than  themselves.  Elisha  is 
younger  than  they;  he  is  a  fann  boy,  and  with 
little,  if  any,  theological  training;  and  yet  these 
qualified  men  of  God  pay  him  homage. 

Surely  there  was  blessing  in  store  for  Israel 
when  she  was  possessed  of  such  candidates  for  the 
sacred  ministry.  Without  a  murmur  the  sons  of 
the  prophets  accept  Elisha  as  the  true  successor 
of  the  famous  Elijah,  and  accredit  him  their  su- 
perior officer.  This  ready  appreciation  was  sug- 
gestive of  the  deference  paid  Elisha  by  his  fellow- 
preachers  throughout  his  life.  The  old  men,  who 
had  not  achieved  conspicuous  success  themselves, 
did  not  cast  up  Elisha's  youth  when  Elisha's  success 
began.  They  did  not  abuse  him  behind  his  back 
for  his  humble  origin,  and  his  lack  of  letters. 

There  must  have  been  good  theological  semi- 
naries in  those  days !  The  sons  of  the  prophets  were 
ready  to  believe  in  a  God-endowed  man  despite 
his  obvious  limitations !  There  are  divinity  stu- 
dents at  the  present  time  who  refuse  homage  to  an 
archbishop.     They  are  fully  persuaded  of  the  fact 


ELISHA  MODERNIZED  31 

that  when  they  begin  their  active  ministry  they 
will  eclipse  all  other  stars  in  the  firmament  of 
contemporary  ecclesiasticism !  May  God  have 
mercy  upon  their  inexperience,  and  smooth  for 
their  journey  the  tortuous  path  of  a  saner  appraise- 
ment ! 

These  prophetical  graces  are  stimulating  for 
us  to  read  about  at  a  distance;  but  they  are  far 
more  beautiful,  and  satisfying,  to  God  when  they 
are  exemplified  in  the  everliving  present.  There 
is  no  denying  the  fact  that  there  is  altogether  too 
much  envy,  and  malice,  in  the  professional  world, 
and  elsew^here.  We  dislike  to  see  other  men  eclips- 
ing us  in  any  particular,  especially  in  our  selected 
vocation ;  and  there  are  few  things  that  we  will  not 
do  to  detract  from  the  growing  reputation  of  an- 
other fellow-mortal.  We  must  self-consciously  cul- 
tivate the  spirit  of  magnanimity,  and  in  our  per- 
sonal and  corporate  relationships  achieve  some 
measure  of  the  generosity,  and  good  manners,  of 
the  sons  of  the  prophets. 

(3)  In  this  story  there  is  a  note  of  originality: 
Elisha's  first  instinct  was  to  blot  himself  out  in 
Elijah's  coat  of  camel's  hair,  and  his  leathern 
girdle.  He  began  his  public  ministry  wearing  those 
ancient  and  austere  accoutrements.  Elisha,  how- 
ever, was  far  too  sincere  a  man  to  continue  for  long 
time  wound  up  in  such  cerements.  He  set  out  in 
Elijah's  mantle,  and  he  performed  his  first  prophet- 


32  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

ical  work  clothed  in  such  a  garb ;  but  he  wore  it 
awkwardly — the  clothes  did  not  fit — and  he  soon 
cast  it  aside.  Elisha  was  a  smaller  and  a  more 
homely  man  than  Elijah,  and  self-respect  soon  sug- 
gested that  he  adorn  himself  in  less  conspicuous 
garb. 

The  moral  shines  clear.  We  must  not  demand 
of  our  young  preachers  that  they  stride  with  the 
same  stej),  and  pronounce  the  same  theological  shib- 
boleths, as  the  Elijah  of  our  youth.  We  possessed 
Elijah  for  a  season,  and  he  fufilled  his  mission; 
but  that  is  no  reason  why  we  should  possess  Elijah 
indefinitely,  and  determine  his  duplication  in  all 
his  successors.  Men  who  preach  the  word  of  God 
need  above  all  other  men  to  be  men  of  to-day,  and 
not  of  yesterday.  The  chances  are  that  you  have 
magnified  the  excellencies  of  Elijah  as  the  years 
have  added  up  their  sum  of  time,  and  that  the 
Elijah  of  your  recollection  would  appear  a  differ- 
ent and  a  less  fascinating  person  were  he  to  re- 
appear before  you  clad  in  the  well-remembered 
mantle. 

This  suggests,  does  it  not,  the  theme  of  origi- 
nality. If  there  is  any  result  which  our  civilization 
is  achieving — a  result  apparent  to  all — it  is  the 
depersonalizing,  and  the  standardization  of  men. 
More  and  more  as  the  days  go  on  we  are  being 
moulded  upon  the  self-same  pattern.  Our  sup- 
posedly rough  edges  are  being  smoothed  off  in  the 


ELISHA  MODERNIZED  33 

factory  of  custom,  and  we  are  being  placed  upon 
the  humanitarian  market  a  finished  bromidic  prod- 
uct. It  is  a  fortunate  thing  that  we  are  ticketed ; 
for,  save  for  the  label  of  a  distinctive  name,  we 
might  easily  be  mistaken  for  one  another,  and  give 
rise  to  unpleasant  complications.  We  speak  alike ; 
we  think  alike ;  Ave  act  alike ;  and,  saddest  of  all 
to  relate,  we  are  actually  beginning  to  look  alike. 
The  chances  are  that  before  long  we  shall  be  wound 
up,  and  run  by  clockwork,  and  speak  automatically  ! 
Surely  it  were  fitting  to  make  a  plea  for  origi- 
nality. We  must  be  ourselves ;  for  our  own  sake ; 
for  the  delectation  of  our  fellow-men;  for  the  in- 
herent charm  of  living;  and,  above  all,  for  God's 
sake.  Each  life  is  a  gift  from  the  Creator  of  life. 
It  is  supposed  to  have  its  advent ;  its  nativity ;  its 
epiphany,  or  manifestation;  its  struggle;  its  res- 
urrection ;  and  its  pentecostal  influence.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  serious  thing  to  tamper  with,  or,  to 
endeavor  to  manipulate,  originality.  Elisha  is 
Elisha;  with  the  talents,  the  personality,  and  the 
capacities  of  Elisha.  He  is  a  worth  while  instru- 
ment in  the  hands  of  God  as  Elisha ;  but  as  an  emu- 
lated Elijah  he  is  shorn  of  his  strength,  and  comes 
perilously  near  to  being  a  hypocrite.  Elisha  was 
a  gentle,  kind,  unprepossessing  lowland  minister; 
Elijah  was  a  tempestuous,  passionate,  seething 
whirlwind  of  a  man ;  the  one  was  as  unlike  the 
other  as  the  green  meadows  of  Abel-Meholah  were 


34  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

unlike  the  savage  solitudes  of  mountainous  Gilead. 
Let  us  see  to  it,  parents,  and  teachers,  and  all  others 
who  are  placed  in  formative  positions,  that  Elisha 
wears  his  own  dress,  suitable  to  his  figure  and  his 
own  particular  genius. 

Optimism — belief  in  the  Lordship  of  God  for 
good;  generous  admiration  for  the  good  qualities 
and  real  achievements  of  our  fellow-men ;  and  the 
sacro-sanctitj  of  originality.  Here  is  a  triune 
attitude  towards  life  worthy  of  our  consideration, 
and  practice. 


THE  MAN  WHO  MADE  A  NATION  TO  SIN 

I   Kings  22:  52.      "Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,  who 
made  Israel  to  sin." 

THIS  dread  warning  and  condemnation  occurs 
some  twenty-three  times  in  the  Book  of  the 
Kings.  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,  seems  to  have 
been  a  sort  of  sunken  rock  in  the  sea  of  mediaeval 
Jewish  history.  Whenever  a  mighty  man  found- 
ered, and  disappeared  beneath  the  waves  of  infamy, 
he  had  wrecked  himself  upon  this  dangerous  shoal. 

Let  us  consider  the  story  of  A  GREAT  OP- 
PORTUIs^ITY;  A  GREAT  FAILURE;  and  A 
GREAT  PUNISHMENT. 

(1)  A  great  opportunity :  Jeroboam  had  risen 
from  the  ranks  of  the  common  people.  There  were 
self-made  men  in  those  ancient  times  as  there  are 
self-made  men  to-day.  The  twentieth  century,  im- 
pression to  the  contrary,  has  no  premium  upon 
brains  and  opportimity.  Just  who  Nebat  was, 
nobody  knows.  He  lived,  no  doubt,  a  quiet,  un- 
assuming life,  and  died  an  unnoticed  death.     His 


36  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

claim  to  fame  rests  upon  the  fact  that  his  son  was 
a  notorious  sinner ;  a  fame  which  few  fathers  crave, 
but  which  many  fathers  have  thrust  upon  them. 
Disgrace  rescues  forgotten  ancestors  from  their 
graves,  and  turns  the  searchlight  of  publicity  upon 
their  buried  activities. 

The  story  is  an  old  one.  A  young  man  of 
marked  ability  attracts  the  attention  of  a  king. 
Solomon  noticed  the  young  Ephthratite,  and  ap- 
pointed him  superintendent  of  his  works.  It  was 
a  dangerous  thing  for  a  youth  to  be  elevated  above 
his  fellows.  It  always  is  a  dangerous  thing.  Older 
men  are  jealous;  naturally  so;  and  make  it  decid- 
edly uncomfortable  for  the  upstart.  They  speak  of 
"pull"  ;  of  "influence"  ;  of  "luck".  They  wag  their 
heads,  and  shrug  their  shoulders,  in  appropriate 
suggestiveness  of  understanding,  and  pronounce  the 
ultimatum — "a  flash  in  the  pan".  Jeroboam's  su- 
periors in  age  were  highly  indignant  at  his  unmer- 
ited promotion.  "Jeroboam,"  they  said,  "a  very 
ordinary  man;  the  son  of  Nebat;  his  uncle  mur- 
dered the  King's  Hebrew.  Solomon  must  be  in  his 
dotage." 

The  promotion  was  a  dangerous  thing  for  Jero- 
boam himself.  It  involved  a  strong  temptation  to 
pride.  The  tendency  was  lest  he  should  over-reach 
himself.  To  be  a  king's  favorite  is  calculated  to 
make  a  man  esteem  himself  beyond  his  deserts. 
Power,  especially  in  the  young  and  untried,  either 


THE  NATIONAL  SINNER  37 

makes  a  man  humble,  or  haughty ;  overbearing,  or 
modest.  There  are  dunces  who  cannot  decipher 
their  o^vn  limitations.  It  is  risky  to  send  little 
boats  far  out  to  sea.  There  are  men ;  clever ;  sharp ; 
natty;  precise;  newspaper  fed  and  magazine  fat- 
tened; who  lose  their  heads  when  their  salary  is 
increased !  To  step  from  a  dungeon  into  a  palace 
is  a  perilous  proceeding,  and  many  unpleasant  ego- 
tists are  manufactured  in  the  transition. 

The  fact  is,  nevertheless,  that  with  all  the  danger 
from  within,  and  from  without,  Jeroboam  had  a 
great  opportunity.  Israel  at  this  time,  towards  the 
latter  years  of  the  reign  of  Solomon,  was  seething 
with  discontent.  The  levied  taxes  were  heavy.  The 
king  required  much  money  in  order  to  maintain  his 
many  wives  and  concubines  and  the  luxuriousness 
of  his  court.  Forced  labor  was  the  order  of  the 
day.  There  was  much  tribal  jealousy.  Clans,  and 
households,  were  pitted  against  one  another. 

A  clever  youth  like  Jeroboam  was  just  the  man 
to  seize  the  golden  opportunity;  to  make  capital 
out  of  prevalent  misfortune.  All  that  he  has  to 
do  is  to  perform  his  duty  in  his  present  position, 
and  to  await  the  fulfilment  of  circumstances. 
Jeroboam,  however,  is  impatient.  Most  young 
men  are  impatient.  The  youth  oftentimes  attempts 
to  force  the  hand  of  destiny.  This  bright  super- 
intendent of  works  cannot  await  God's  good  time. 
So  soon  as  occasion  offers  he  lifts  up  his  hand 


38  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

against  Solomon.  The  King  puts  do^vn  the  revolt, 
and  Jeroboam  flies  into  Egypt.  He  lives  there  for 
some  time,  and  Pharoah  strengthens  the  ambitious 
pretender.  This  was  the  beginning  of  Egypt's 
interference  in  the  affairs  of  Israel.  Then  Solo- 
mon dies,  and  we  have  the  interview  of  Rehoboam 
with  the  leaders  of  the  people.  Rehoboam  answers 
roughly;  he  takes  the  advice  of  his  schoolfellows, 
as  many  young  men  have  done  from  that  day  to 
this;  and  he  says  that  his  little  finger  shall  be 
thicker  than  his  father's  arm. 

Here  again  was  Jeroboam's  opportunity.  God 
declared,  "if  thou  wilt  hearken  to  all  that  I  shall 
command  it  will  be  well  with  thee".  If  only  he 
had  been  faithful  to  his  privilege  a  long  life,  and  a 
useful,  might  have  fallen  to  his  lot. 

(2)  The  Great  Failure:  Jeroboam  was  a  good 
builder.  As  architect,  and  contractor,  he  had  beau- 
tified Jerusalem.  But  the  record  of  his  enterprise, 
and  professional  talent,  is  eclipsed  by  his  sin. 

He  is  afraid  that  if  the  people  of  the  northern 
tribes  who  owe  him  allegiance  go  up  to  the  Holy 
City  they  will  be  weaned  away  from  his  command. 
'^If  they  continue  to  go  up  they  will  turn  to  their 
people,  and  kill  me."  He  is  not  far  wrong  in  his 
reasoning.  Religious  beliefs  die  hard.  They  are 
imbedded  in  our  frame  with  physical  and  mental 
growth.  They  live  long.  They  haunt  us  as  long 
as   we  live,   and  they  confront   us   in  the  world 


THE  NATIONAL  SINNER  39 

beyond.  Jeroboam  knew  this.  He  also  realized 
that  every  to-morrow  has  two  handles — anxiety  and 
faith — and  so  he  seized  the  handle  of  anxiety,  and 
said,  "I  will  make  the  people  idolators.  I  will 
teach  them  how  to  break  the  Decalogue."  He, 
therefore,  makes  two  calves  of  gold.  "Do  not  go 
up  to  Jerusalem,"  he  says,  "it  is  a  long  and  a  tire- 
some journey.  Here  is  Jehovah  for  you  at  your 
own  front  door."  He  was  a  wise  man.  He  appre- 
ciated the  truth  that  nature  abhors  a  vacuum.  The 
heart  refuses  to  be  permanently  emptied.  If  you 
take  away  a  man's  orthodoxy  you  must  give  him 
a  systematized  heresy.  If  you  deprive  him  of  one 
belief  you  must  construct  another  belief.  The 
Israelites  had  to  have  some  object  to  worship — 
either  Jehovah,  or  an  idol.  After  this  Jeroboam 
built  a  temple.  "Behold  this  majestic  pile,"  he 
said,  "what  need  is  there  to  travel  footsore  and 
fatigiied  to  Jerusalem  when  you  have  such  a 
magnificent  building  within  eye  shot"  ?  Then  he 
made  priests  of  the  common  people;  he  was  a 
plebian  himself,  and  sympathetic  towards  his  own 
class ;  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  change  the  date 
of  the  holy  feast  of  tabernacles.  He  was  the  pro- 
fessor of  religion  made  easy. 

Jeroboam's  plan  worked  well — for  a  time.  Ex- 
pediency usually  works  well — for  a  time.  Come 
down  to  the  requirements  of  laziness,  and  you  will 
lead  the  mass — for  a  time.     The  Israelites  took 


40  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

to  the  new  arrangements.  Jehovah  was  dethroned, 
and  Jeroboam  was  enthroned  in  his  place.  Worldly 
success,  however,  has  it's  drawbacks.  It  is  better, 
after  all,  to  "play  the  game" — in  the  long  run. 

(3)  The  Great  Punisliment:  Jeroboam's  hand 
withered.  Jeroboam's  child  was  stricken.  Jero- 
boam's dynasty  perished  in  one  generation.  His 
"sin  found  him  out",  and  beyond  peradventure. 

Even  in  this  world — appearances  sometimes  to 
the  contrary — the  sinner  is  punished.  He  has  to 
pay  the  price.  If  nobody  else  finds  him  out  his 
sin  finds  him  out.  The  wicked  do  not  always  flour- 
ish as  the  green  bay  tree.  When  they  seem  to  do 
so  we  should  find  on  close  examination  that  the 
leaves  of  the  bay  tree  are  riddled  with  plagiie,  and 
that  the  heart  of  the  trunk  of  the  tree  is  rotten. 
The  house  may  be  beautiful ;  a  veritable  million- 
aire's palace;  but  in  the  banqueting  room  there  is 
a  skeleton  at  the  feast,  and  along  the  corridors  there 
wanders  an  unchained  ghost. 

Jeroboam  corrupted  the  entire  nation,  morally 
and  spiritually.  The  higher  our  position  the  more 
far  reaching  our  influence  either  for  good  or  for 
bad.  Jeroboam  is  known  forever  as  "Jeroboam, 
the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin".  In  the 
revelation  of  St.  John  when  the  tribes  are  men- 
tioned Ephraim  is  omitted  on  account  of  this 
transgression. 

]^ow,   what   are   the  lessons  ?     I  believe  that 


THE  NATIONAL  SINNER  41 

Jeroboam  is  placed  in  the  Bible  by  divine  inspira- 
tion in  order  that  men  in  all  ages  may  profit  from 
the  account  of  his  opportunity ;  his  failure ;  and  his 
sin. 

(1)  We  have  a  warning  against  a  political 
conception  of  religion:  Some  statesmen  speak  of 
Christianity  as  though  it  were  a  necessary  super- 
stition to  be  maintained  for  the  legal  restraint  of 
the  passions  of  men.  It  is  supposedly  a  good  thing 
for  men  and  women  to  be  Christians  in  that  Chris- 
tianity makes  them,  or  is  calculated  to  make  them, 
law-abiding  citizens.  The  principle  is  that  if  you 
give  the  child  something  harmless  to  play  with  he 
will  not  damage  the  furniture.  Make  Christianity 
a  general  thing;  dilute  it  of  all  bigotry;  and  it 
will  minimize  the  difficulties  of  both  the  policeman 
and  the  magistrate. 

One  gets  so  desperately  tired  of  hearing  Chris- 
tianity spoken  of  as  one  of  many  religions,  as  a 
beneficent  system  of  ethics,  and  as  something  that 
compares  favorably  with  Buddhism,  and  Confu- 
cianism, and  a  few  other  Isms.  Just  as  though  there 
were  any  other  religion  which  could  be  named  in 
the  same  breath  with  Christianity.  Just  as  though 
any  halfway  revelations  were  in  the  same  class 
with  "the  faith"  once  for  all  delivered.  Just  as 
though  politics  could  decree  the  measure  of  Chris- 
tianity's acceptance,  or  the  quality  of  Christianity's 
worth.     Just  as  though,  in  the  last  analysis,  the 


42  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

relative  acceptability  of  the  State  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  "The  Truth  as 
it  is  in  Christ  Jesus" ! 

(2)  God  disapproves  of  expediency:  We  may 
never  conscientiously  do  evil  in  order  that  good 
may  come.  Wrong  is  wrong,  and  right  is  right, 
whatever  comes  before,  or  goes  after. 

The  story  of  Jeroboam  is  a  tremendous  call  to 
principle  as  opposed  to  expediency.  Compromise 
never  pays — in  religion.  A  thing  is  either  settled 
properly,  or  improperly — in  divine  estimation.  No 
church,  no  minister,  no  Christian,  can  afford  to 
split  hairs  in  spiritual  affairs. 

The  fact  remains,  however,  that  we  are  fond 
of  expediency  in  the  life  of  organized  Christianity 
to-day.  Many  churches  are  built  without  one-half 
of  the  needed  funds  in  hand.  The  honesty  of  the 
future  is  imprisoned  in  the  selfishness  of  the  pres- 
ent. Let  us  put  up  a  church — duplicating  the 
number  of  parishes  in  a  community  ad  7iauseam — 
at  once,  and  without  providential  forethought,  or 
conscientious  consideration.  What  does  it  matter 
that  we  are  unable  to  pay  for  it  just  now.  There 
are  a  hundred  communicants  in  this  immediate 
locality  who  dislike  travelling  a  mile  to  the  House 
of  God.  We  must  think  of  the  soul-stirring  serv- 
ices which  shall  be  held  in  the  unpaid  for  sacred 
edifice,  and  of  the  ameliorative  effect  of  the  sight 
of  such  an  establishment  in  the  community.     It  is 


THE  NATIONAL  SINNER  43 

expediency  writ  large;  it  is  refined  Jesuitism 
written  with  a  flourish.  A  mortgage  is  often  good 
business;  but  there  are  times  when,  in  connection 
with  a  church,  it  is  poor  morality.  The  question 
to  be  decided  is  ever  "is  it  right",  not  "is  it  wise". 

(3)  The  contagion  of  sin:  You  start  an  error 
and  you  cannot  tell  to  what  an  extent  it  will  de- 
velop. "Woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offence 
Cometh."  An  author  writes  a  shady  book,  a  book 
which  is,  to  say  the  least,  "off  color".  It  is,  and 
naturally  so,  a  huge  success  financially;  but  pure 
and  innocent  boys  and  girls  lay  hold  of  the  filthy 
pages,  and  suffer  defilement.  "Woe  to  the  man  who. 
makes  Israel  to  sin".  There  is  a  son  of  Nebat,  a 
modern  Jeroboam,  who  is  conspicuously  doing  this 
sort  of  thing  to-day.  He  is  epigrammatic ;  subtle ; 
insinuatingly  clever;  speciously  wise;  and  pos- 
sessed in  marked  degree  of  all  the  sinuous  wiles 
of  the  modern  sophist.  He  is,  in  the  heady  minds 
of  heady  people,  the  originator  of  a  cult,  and  the 
emancipator  of  self-confessed  intellectualists  from 
the  bonds  of  an  outridden  moral  code.  His  books, 
and  the  sayings  contained  therein,  are  quoted  with 
delight  by  hair-brained  men  and  women  who  ape 
bohemianism.  "Woe  to  the  man  who  makes  Israel 
to  sin" ;  for  sin  is  contagious — it  spreads  like  a 
malignant  disease. 

Let  us  turn  from  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat, 
who  made  Israel  to  sin,  and  focus  our  attention 


44  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

upon  the  precepts,  and  strive  to  copy  the  example, 
of  Jesus,  the  son  of  God,  who  hath  died  that  we 
might  live — live  unto  righteousness,  and  our  neigh- 
bor's happiness,  both  in  time  and  in  eternity. 


A  SCORNED  MAN 
II  Chronicles  28:  22.     "That  King  Ahaz." 

THUS  is  the  man  branded  forever  in  Holy  Writ. 
"That  King  Ahaz."  He  left  behind  him  a 
bad  memory ;  the  reputation  of  being  the  worst  of 
all  the  Kings  of  David's  Line.  He  was  an  apostate 
from  the  Faith  of  Israel,  and  in  his  reign  of  six- 
teen years  he  almost  succeeded  in  stamping  out  the 
Worship  of  Jehovah. 

His  ignominy  was  his  own;  he  had  only  him- 
self to  blame.  The  best  of  the  Prophets  had  given 
him  sound  advice.  Hosea  on  the  l!^orth,  and  Micah 
on  the  South,  had  voiced  the  note  of  warning.  But, 
as  many  a  young  man  before  and  since,  he  took  the 
bit  into  his  own  teeth,  and  traveled  his  own  sweet 
road  to  hell. 

Let  us  glance  briefly  at  the  history  of  his  life: 
At  the  outset  of  his  career  Ahaz  was  possessed  of  a 
fatal  broad-mindedness.  He  was  ready  to  worship 
any  god  save  the  True  God.  He  was  the  type  of 
man  who  says,  and  is  devoid  of  the  remotest  idea 


46  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

of  what  lie  implies,  "It  does  not  matter  wkat  a  man 
believes ;  we  are  all  bound  for  the  same  place."  He 
was  bound  for  the  Bad  Place,  and  we  have  every 
reason  to  believe  that  he  reached  his  destination ! 

He  permitted  his  own  son  to  pass  through  the 
fire  to  Moloch.  He  was  not  concerned  about  the 
comfort  or  discomfort  of  his  child  so  long  as  there 
was  the  probability  of  a  benefit  accruing  to  him- 
self. He  multiplied  his  divinities,  until  it  required 
a  mathematician  to  keep  pace  with  his  pantheon. 

Then  war  broke  out.  Sooner  or  later  there  is 
always  war  in  the  immoral  man's  camp.  The  heart 
of  Ahaz  was  moved  with  fear.  The  immoral  man 
is  ever  a  coward  at  heart.  The  Syrians  smote  him, 
and  carried  away  a  large  portion  of  his  army  into 
captivity.  Ahaz  invoked  foreign  help.  He  im- 
portuned the  rulers  of  Assyria.  He  sent  a  present, 
a  gift  taken  out  of  the  House  of  the  Lord,  to  placate 
their  opposition.  But  the  Assyrians  accepted  the 
gift,  and  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  his  supplicative 
entreaties.  Then  he  sacrificed  unto  the  Gods  of 
Damascus ;  but  they  proved  to  be  the  niin  of  him, 
and  of  all  Israel. 

In  sore  straits  he  cast  his  eyes  on  all  sides,  but 
he  forgot  to  look  up.  There  is  a  story  of  a  boy 
who  went  with  his  father  to  rob  an  orchard.  The 
father  looked  around  and  about  him,  to  right  and 
to  left,  to  see  as  to  whether  or  no  he  was  observed. 
"When  he  was  satisfied  that  there  was  no  one  within 


A  SCORNED  MAN  47 

eyesight,  he  started  to  rob  the  orchard.  Suddenly 
his  son  shouted,  "Father;  you  have  forgotten  to 
look  up !"  Ahaz  was  the  man  of  inferior  expe- 
dients. He  took  everyone  into  account  save  God. 
He  failed  to  lift  up  his  eyes  unto  the  Hills  from 
whence  would  have  come  his  all-sujSicing  help.  The 
result  was  that  he  had  a  hard  time,  a  desperately 
hard  time.  His  enemies  increased  daily,  until  at 
last  twenty-two  tributary  monarchs  were  allied 
against  him. 

As  a  solace  in  his  misery  he  accentuated  his 
idolatries.  He  saw  another  style  and  pattern  of 
altar  which  caught  his  artistic  taste,  and  he  sent 
for  the  sample,  and  had  it  copied  that  he  might 
worship  another  god.  Soothsayers  came  from 
the  East,  expert  salesmen,  and  altars  were  planted 
in  every  available  corner  of  Jerusalem,  until  the 
Temple  was  laid  bare,  and  bereft  of  worshippers. 
The  sacred  vessels  were  placed  in  the  melting-pot ; 
the  Great  Lava  was  taken  down  from  its  brazen 
base,  and  placed  on  stones;  and  only  the  Holy 
Light,  the  Shekinah,  was  left  undisturbed. 

After  this — as  a  fitting  climax — Ahaz  died. 
He  was  not  buried,  however,  in  the  Sepulchres  of 
the  Kings ;  for  the  Westminster  Abbey  of  the  Jews 
was  too  sacred  a  place  to  be  polluted  by  the  ashes 
of  such  a  villain ;  he  was  interred  outside  the  city 
limits. 

That  King  Ahaz!    What  unutterable  scorn  is 


48  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

expressed  by  the  Biographer.  That  King  Ahaz. 
The  whole  record  of  his  life  is  the  record  of  a 
Godless  man  who,  in  his  desperation,  clutched  at 
any  straw  to  save  himself. 

Let  us  take  the  story  out  of  its  setting  in  the 
Bible,  and  apply  it  to  modern  times,  and  to  our- 
selves. 

Have  none  of  us  howed  the  knee  to  the  devil 
that  we  might  achieve  earthly  things?  Old  world 
cults  had  their  worshippers,  and  we  have  fantastic 
cults,  God  knows,  in  Christendom  to-day,  and  in 
the  United  States  of  America. 

Many  people  are  abandoning  the  old  simple 
faith  of  their  fathers  for  faiths  which  are,  to  say 
the  least,  less  profoundly  true.  This  is  the  Era  of 
Adulterated  Christianity. 

Wherein  lies  the  proselytising  power  of  these 
new  heresies ;  or  these  Old  Heresies  dished  up  with 
an  unfamiliar  sauce  ?  The  answer  is  partly  this : 
The  Old  Faith  has  been  a  second-hand  affair.  It 
was  the  faith  of  parental  instruction,  and  as  such 
was  nominally  accepted,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
The  title  deeds  were  never  looked  into,  nor  investi- 
gated. The  believer  believed  without  knowing 
anything  about  what  he  did  believe.  Then,  there 
comes  along  the  new  evangel.  It  is  in  the  air. 
People  are  talking  about  it,  and  as  the  promoters 
of  a  patent  medicine  for  the  soul,  or  for  the  soul 
through  the  body,  they  make  stupendous  claims  on 


A  SCORNED  MAN  49 

its  behalf.  They  insinuate  that  the  Old  Faith  is 
out  of  date,  and  they  suggest,  with  the  charming 
smile  of  seraphic  superiority,  that  to  be  abreast  of 
the  times  in  affairs  religious  you  must  tear  a  hole 
through  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  re-edit  the  Gospel 
According  to  the  Past.  Mortal  man  listens ;  is  some- 
what skeptical  at  first,  but  having  an  undue  regard 
for  his  reputation  as  a  reasonable  being,  and  desir- 
ing to  get  as  much  out  of  his  religion  as  possible, 
and  failing  to  realize  that  giving  is  of  the  essence 
of  worship,  he  falls  an  easy  prey  to  words  of 
ten  syllables,  and  to  a  science  which  denies  the 
fundamental  principles  of  all  science.  The  Gods 
of  Damascus,  and  the  Gods  of  Assyria,  usurp  the 
preeminence  of  Jehovah,  the  True  God  of  Israel ! 
What  is  the  result  ?  Why,  applause  from  the  self- 
constituted  emancipators  of  thought,  and  commen- 
dation from  the  Sect  of  the  Laodicaeans  who  feel 
that  the  new  disciple  is  in  a  fair  way  to  embark 
with  them  upon  the  lukewarm  waters  of  individ- 
ualism. 

Oh,  it  is  a  merrie,  a  merrie  game!  Hard 
pressed  by  the  hosts  of  doubt;  fast  impelled  by 
indigestion,  or  hysteria  in  its  multitudinous  forms, 
or  neurasthenic  imaginations;  the  wisdom-wooed 
novice  places  a  premium  upon  arrant  selfishness, 
and  importunes  the  Living  God  for  a  recipe  for 
physical  disabilities !  These  may  seem  strong 
words;  but  the  circumstances  of  the  case  demand 


50  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

strong  words.  If  I  liave  spoken  fire,  it  is  because 
there  is  fuel  enough  for  a  mighty  conflagration. 
Before  theology  be  discredited,  and  lologies  be  sub- 
stituted in  its  place,  we  have  a  right,  minister  and 
people  alike,  to  indulge  occasionally  in  passionate 
vocabulary ! 

There  is  enough  in  the  Old  Gospel  to  keep  men 
and  women  busy  all  the  days  of  their  lives.  There 
is  enough  to  transform  them  into  veritable  Sons  of 
God,  and  Servants  of  Jesus  Christ.  That  King 
Ahaz  might  have  been  an  Israelite  indeed  in  whom 
there  was  no  guile  had  he  but  studied  the  historic 
faith  of  his  own  country,  and  not  gone  aflirting 
with  the  Faiths  of  Damascus,  and  Assyria.  All 
that  he  sought  from  afar  was  close  at  home,  in  his 
very  midst,  had  he  but  possessed  the  mind  of  a 
scholar,  and  been  trained,  rabbinically  trained,  to 
differentiate  between  froth  and  substance. 

Secondly :  Do  we  not  have  to  pay  a  heavy  price 
for  all  our  minor  helps  f  Ahaz  stripped  the  Temple, 
and  sacrificed  his  son.  Do  we  not  have  to  pay  as 
much  to-day?  We  must  give  legal  tender  for  all 
that  we  receive  in  this  world.  "Nothing  for 
nothing"  is  the  rule  of  business,  and  of  life.  We 
talk  of  a  man's  success ;  of  a  fortune  accumulated ; 
of  a  post,  a  coveted  post,  won.  Yes ;  but  at  what 
a  cost!  Faces  are  turned  to  the  successful  which 
say,  "Here  died  sympathy  for  your  fellow-strug- 
glers" ;  "Here  died  generosity" ;  "Here  died  mag- 


A  SCORNED  MAN  51 

nanimity."  Voices,  accusatory  voices  cry,  "You 
are  a  shrivelled  soul;  shrivelled  in  the  ladder's 
climb ;  shrivelled  in  the  fourth  rung" ;  "You  are 
an  embodied  conceit ;  a  personified  greed ;  a  corpse 
of  your  at  one  time  unselfish  self."  "Nothing  suc- 
ceeds like  success?"  Quite  so;  but  nothing  costs 
so  much  as  success;  Ambition  is  a  spendthrift 
which  reiterates,  "pay,  pay,  pay."  Health;  sus- 
ceptibility; sensitiveness;  pleasure,  or  the  capacity 
for  enjoyment;  friendship;  God;  are  all  in  the 
toll. 

What  if  we  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  our 
own  souls  ?  Surely,  even  as  Ahaz,  we  pay  too  big 
a  price.  Who  is  the  wise  man;  who  the  under- 
standing Man  ?  Is  it  not  he  who  realizes  that  life 
is  something  more  than  getting;  to  expend  oneself 
upon  that  which  perishes  ?  Is  it  not  he  who  real- 
izes that  life  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  the 
perpetuated  opportunity  of  giving ;  to  expend  one's 
possessions,  both  inward  and  outvard,  upon  the 
needs  of  others  ?  That  King  Ahaz !  The  man  of 
inferior  expedients;  the  man  of  minor  helps;  is 
forever  and  always  a  failure ;  whatever  the  size  of 
his  bank  account,  or  the  accumulation  of  his  real 
estate;  and  he  goes  down  into  history,  local  or 
universal,  as  that  King  Ahaz. 

Thirdly :  We  see  in  this  story  the  falseness  of 
earth's  help:  Ahaz  tried  to  propitiate  the  King  of 
Assyria ;  but  the  King  of  Assyria  did  not  respond. 


52  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

When  the  imperative  moment  arrived  he  looked 
the  other  way,  and  let  his  Brother  of  Israel  manage 
his  own  affairs  as  best  he  might.  Then  he  be- 
thought him  of  his  pocket,  and  growled  for  more 
money.  "A  thousand  extra  shekels,  Ahaz,  and  I 
might  be  induced  to  help  you  out  of  your  dif- 
ficulties." The  King  of  Assyria  was  an  avaricious 
gentleman.  All  of  our  lower  alternatives  forever 
are  avaricious.  When  we  deliberately  place  our- 
selves in  their  power  they  "squeeze  us" ;  aye,  they 
"squeeze  us  dry."  If  money  is  the  only  cement 
which  binds  us  to  our  allies  then  repointing  must 
be  done  constantly,  or  the  fabric  of  the  alliance  will 
soon  crumble  into  disrepair.  Our  sinful  friends 
are  here  to-day,  and  away  to-morrow.  In  the  sun- 
shine they  disport  themselves  most  lovingly  in  our 
presence ;  but  when  the  day  of  darkness  comes  they 
are  nowhere  to  be  found.  Lay  hold  of  one  of  them 
by  the  heels  as  he  turns  to  run  away,  and  he  will 
place  the  full  blame  and  responsibility  for  the  un- 
successful transaction  upon  your  devoted  shoul- 
ders ;  confessing  himself  to  be  as  white  as,  nay 
whiter  than,  the  new  born  snow.  The  only  lasting 
help,  the  help  which  endures  in  prosperity  and  in 
failure,  the  help  which  is  superior  to  all  the 
vagaries  of  circumstances,  and  the  fluctuations  of 
condition,  is  the  Help  of  God. 

Finally :    The  story  of  Ahaz  is  a  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  fact  that  sin  forces  us  down.     We 


A  SCORNED  MAN  53 

begin  by  little,  and  we  go  on  toward  much.  Just  a 
slip.  We  right  ourselves.  Then  a  stumble.  After 
that  a  fall.  Then  the  lying  down ;  the  inability  to 
rise  upon  our  feet ;  and  the  wallowing  in  the  mire. 
The  drunkard  of  to-day  would  not  have  recognized 
himself  ten  years  ago.  The  portrait  of  what  he 
now  is  would  have  been  an  exaggerated  picture 
painted  by  an  unmerciful  Hymnologist!  The 
cynic  began  by  clever  phrases  which  produced 
laughter  among  stupid  people.  Then  his  growing 
reputation  for  saying  smart  things  demanded  an 
epigram  on  occasion — ^his  mental  ingenuity  became 
a  vice — and  now  he  is  a  disbeliever  in  human 
nature,  and  a  doubter  of  his  God.  Sin  brings  us 
down;  its  weight  is  a  leaden  weight.  Sin  makes 
white  black,  and  black  white ;  vice  virtue  and  vir- 
tue vice.  We  are  intended  to  achieve  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ;  but  sin 
persisted  in  lowers  us  gradually,  but  most  realist- 
ically, to  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness 
of  the  devil.  In  Ahaz  we  have  a  running  com- 
mentary upon  the  statement  that  "the  wages  of 
sin  is  death." 

"Come  now — let  us  reason  together.  Though 
your  sins  be  as  scarlet  they  shall  be  as  wool ;  though 
they  are  as  crimson  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow." 
"To  fall,"  said  St.  Chrysostom,  "is  not  so  dread- 
ful as  to  lie  where  we  fall;  or  to  be  wounded  so 
bad  as  to  refuse  to  be  healed."     To  the  modern 


54  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Ahaz,  to  the  up  to  date  Mammon  truster,  we 
may  say  in  the  l^ame  of  Jesus  Christ,  "To  him 
that  overcometh  will  I  give  a  white  stone,  and  in 
the  stone  a  new  name  written."  That  King  Ahaz 
may  be  changed  into  "The  Disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved." 


THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN 
St.  Luke  10:30-38 

THIS  portion  of  Scripture  is  generally  known 
as  the  Parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  I 
would  suggest  another  name — in  my  humble  opin- 
ion more  illuminative — and  call  it  The  Parable 
of  the  Open  Road. 

Let  Me  Present  the  Picture:  The  great  sun- 
baked and  dust-swept  highway  stretching  between 
Jerusalem  and  Jericho;  the  road  tramped  by  Pil- 
grims on  their  way  to  the  Holy  City ;  the  road  of 
commerce,  along  which  merchants  journeyed  to  the 
circumference  of  Palestine,  and  back  again.  On 
this  highway,  singled  out  for  our  attention,  a 
bruised  and  bleeding  traveler.  Passing  before  him 
in  rapid  succession  a  Priest,  a  Levite,  and  a  Samar- 
itan. On  either  side  of  the  highway,  and  far  as 
the  eye  may  see,  the  orientialism  of  the  East  in 
architecture ;  the  verdure  and  the  foliage  of  a  fruit- 
ful climate;  and  lesser  roads  and  narrow  lanes 
intersecting  to  the  utmost  horizon.    The  highway  I 


56  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

take  to  be,  as  Christ  implied,  the  highway  of  human 
life.  The  figures  upon  the  highway,  about  whom  I 
shall  have  more  to  say  presently,  the  customary 
people  to  be  met  with  in  this  world  of  time  and 
place.  The  motives  and  impulses,  the  vices  and 
virtues,  are  the  medley  of  conditions  the  clash  of 
which  make  up  the  sum  total  of  existence. 

I^ow,  (1)  We  Are  to  Live  Our  Life  Upon  the 
Highway:  It  is  there  that  disaster  occurs;  it  is 
there  that  opportunity  is  met  with,  and  grasped  or 
repudiated.  This  incident  did  not  happen  upon  a 
by-path.  If  it  had  the  whole  force  and  application 
of  the  Parable  would  be  lost.  We  might  then  stand 
upon  the  Highway,  shade  our  eyes  from  the  noon- 
day sun,  peer  over  into  the  lane  along  the  side,  and 
say,  "Poor  man ;  he  seems  to  be  in  a  bad  way ;  but 
it  is  his  own  fault.  He  should  have  stuck  to  the 
beaten  tracks ;  he  had  no  business  wandering  into 
unfrequented  places." 

Whatever  the  world  may  be  like;  a  mosaic  of 
sorrow  and  joy,  of  sin  and  righteousness,  of  self- 
ishness and  self-sacrifice,  we  must  live  in  the  heart 
of  things  if  we  would  achieve  our  destiny,  and 
serve  God  and  man.  The  highway  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  our  vocation. 


I^^ow,  I  would  have  you  notice  The  Four  Repre- 
sentative Figures  Upon  the  Highway;  figures  not 


THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN  57 

indigenous  to  the  Parable,  or  Palestine,  but  to  be 
discovered  upon  the  Highway  of  Life  to-day,  and 
in  the  city  of  Cleveland. 


The  first  figure  upon  the  highway  is  Innocence. 

The  second  figure  upon  the  highway  is  Cruelty. 

The  third  figure  upon  the  highway  is  Selfish- 
ness', and 

The  fourth  figure  upon  the  highway  is  Love. 

(1)  Innocence  "A  man  went  down  from 
Jerusalem  to  Jericho."  We  are  not  told  anything 
about  the  motives,  or  the  character  of  this  traveler. 
Apparently  he  was  a  harmless  pilgrim,  doing  no 
one  any  harm. 

It  is  Innocence  upon  the  highway  of  human 
life.  Innocence  set  upon,  robbed,  stripped  of  its 
garments ;  Innocence  procured  for  immoral  pur- 
poses ;  and  all  through  no  fault  of  its  own ! 

This  is  the  appalling  mystery  of  life;  of  the 
transactions  upon  the  Open  Road.  How  many 
men  and  women  we  have  known,  pure  in  intention, 
possessed  of  integrity  of  character,  who  have  been 
frustrated  in  their  endeavors,  ruined  in  their 
achievement  of  success,  through  exterior  circum- 
stances for  which  they  were  not  responsible,  and 
over  which  they  had  no  control. 

The  Insoluble  Mystery  of  Irresponsible  Pain! 
It  has  turned  more  people  from  faith  to  faithless- 


58  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

ness  than  anything  else  in  the  world.  What  does  it 
mean?  We  do  not  know.  The  more  we  question 
the  mystery  the  more  mystified  we  become.  I  feel, 
however,  that  there  is  a  solution  of  the  problem  in 
this  parable.  God  is  giving  us  the  test  not  of 
orthodoxy,  but  of  love.  The  Priest  and  the  Levite 
passed  by — the  Samaritan  stopped  and  assisted. 
Innocence  wronged  is  an  opportunity  for  man's 
salvation.  He  may  help ;  he  may  give  the  cup  of 
cold  water  to  the  thirsty ;  he  may  clothe  the  naked ; 
he  may  visit  the  sick;  he  may  adopt  militant  tac- 
tics on  behalf  of  morality. 

Oh,  the  satisfaction  of  really  being  of  use;  of 
being  able  to  assert  ourselves  for  the  welfare  of 
our  fellows;  of  having  locality  to  work  upon  and 
transform  with  the  light  that  never  was  on  land  or 
sea.  The  wounded  traveler  is  the  medium  of  the 
happiness  which  comes  of  laying  down  our  life  for 
the  reconstruction  of  our  fellow  men. 

(2)  Cruelty:  This  is  a  gruesome  figure — "he 
fell  among  thieves".  It  is  a  realistic  figaire  in  our 
midst  to-day.  The  criminal,  even  as  the  poor,  we 
have  ever  with  us.  We  read  the  daily  papers,  and 
upon  every  page  vice  raises  its  hideous  face. 

The  Criminal!  Why,  we  do  not  think  much 
about  him.  Do  we?  We  know  that  there  are 
prisons,  and  penitentiaries,  and  reformatories,  with 
their  more  or  less  vicious  inmates,  and  we  leave 
the  matter  there.     You  say,  "this  is  a  matter  for 


THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN  59 

the  State  to  deal  with,  for  the  judge,  the  magistrate, 
and  the  policeman ;  it  is  outside  the  province  of  the 
Church."  It  may  be  so ;  but  when  I  read  this  par- 
able I  find  that  the  responsible  parties  were  the 
thieves.     They  mutilated  the  innocent  traveler. 

Why,  then,  does  not  Jesus  accentuate  the  delib- 
erate guilt  of  the  thieves  ?  For  this  reason — in  His 
opinion  the  people  who  do  actual  wrong  are  not  so 
bad  as^the  people  who  do  nothing  at  all.  The  priest 
and  the  Levite  who  passed  by  were  more  devilish 
than  the  robbers  who  waylaid ! 

That  is  a  strong  statement?  Yes;  but  it  has 
the  backing  of  Scripture,  and  it  is  enforced  by  the 
tenor  of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ. 

In  the  Old  Testament,  you  remember,  that  on 
one  occasion  Israel  was  hard  beset  by  Sisera,  and 
his  mighty  host.  The  very  continuance  of  the 
Theocracy  was  in  jeopardy.  Every  Israelite  was 
summoned  to  repel  the  invader.  The  towns  and 
the  cities  and  the  rural  districts  responded ;  all  save 
one  little  hamlet,  named  Meroz.  "Meroz  held  back. 
She  was  off  the  highway,  asleep  in  her  mountain 
fastnesses.  Meroz  heeded  not  the  trumpet  blast, 
but  fed  her  bleating  sheep  upon  the  verdant  hills. 
What  was  the  verdict  of  the  inspired  prophetess, 
Deborah?  'Curse  ye,  Meroz,  saith  the  Angel  of 
the  Lord ;  curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof ; 
for  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty.'  " 


60  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Or,  turn  to  Christ's  teaching.  There  is  the 
parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus.  Dives  was  doomed 
to  punishment.  "In  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes, 
being  in  torment."  Why  ?  Not  because,  as  Dore 
in  his  famous  picture  would  suggest,  he  had  done 
active  injury  to  Lazarus,  but  because  every  day  as 
he  passed  by  the  lodge  gate  in  his  chariot  he  turned 
away  his  head  in  loathing  at  sight  of  the  beggar's 
sores.    He  did  nothing — therefore  he  was  damned ! 

Or,  take  the  man  with  one  talent.  Why  was 
he  censured?  Not  because  he  used  his  money  in 
destructive  channels ;  but  because  he  did  not  utilize 
it  at  all.  In  the  twentieth  century  that  man  would 
be  a  promoter  of  bogus  companies ;  getting  the  dol- 
lars of  others,  and  not  risking  a  cent  himself ! 

My  friends,  this  is  a  sad  as  well  as  a  glad  world ; 
there  is  much  to  be  done  for  Christ  and  man ;  and 
if  we  do  nothing,  if  we  sit  complacently  with  folded 
hands  and  let  the  world  go  by;  then,  in  God's 
sight  we  are  more  culpable  than  the  originators  of 
sin. 

Here  lay  this  poor  man.  He  was  in  pain ;  real 
pain,  for  he  was  a  Jewish  worshipper,  not  a  Chris- 
tian Scientist ;  he  needed  succor.  The  Priest  and 
the  Levite  were  more  cruel  than  the  robber  band. 

(3)  Selfishness:  This  is  a  familiar  figure; 
we  have  seen  him,  we  have  seen  her,  so  often ;  alas, 
the  features  are  to  be  found  in  our  own  physiog- 
nomy.   We  have  been  throwing  stones  at  the  Priest 


THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN  61 

and  the  Levite,  but  perhaps  we  are  somewhat 
Priestly,  in  the  wrong  sense,  and  Levitical  our- 
selves ! 

The  Priest,  no  doubt,  was  going  down  to  Jer- 
icho to  hold  service;  the  Levite,  in  all  likelihood, 
to  attend  the  synagogue  worship.  As  they  trudge 
along  the  highway  they  see  in  the  distance  a  con- 
fused object  lying  prone  upon  the  road.  They  ap- 
proach nearer,  and  it  assumes  the  shape  of  a  man, 
and  a  man  bedraggled  and  covered  with  blood. 
The  Priest  stops;  looks  the  man  over;  feels  in- 
clined to  do  something  for  the  unfortunate  victim, 
but  then  remembers  the  time.  "I  should  like  to 
help  this  man,"  he  says,  "but  service  is  at  eleven 
o'clock,  and  it  would  never  do  to  keep  the  congre- 
gation waiting."  So,  on  the  stroke  of  the  hour, 
clad  in  immaculate  surplice,  and  appropriate  stole, 
he  takes  his  accustomed  place  in  the  chancel,  and 
chants,  in  silvered  intonation,  the  Daily  Exhorta- 
tion! 

And  the  Levite?  Why,  some  people  are  so 
literal  in  their  interpretation  of  the  highway  that 
in  London,  England,  they  stick  to  Regent  Street, 
and  never  go  through  Whitechapel,  and  in  ISTew 
York  they  parade  Fifth  Avenue,  and  never  trouble 
the  East  Side  with  their  presence.  But,  when  on 
Regent  Street,  or  Fifth  Avenue,  they  see  a  revolt- 
ing sight,  emblematic  of  poverty  or  misery,  they 
put  their  embroidered  handkerchiefs  up  to  their 


62  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

ejeSj  if  they  are  women,  drawing  in  convulsively 
their  skirts,  and  pass  by  on  the  other  side.  "Ugh !" 
they  say,  "did  you  see  that  ?  Horrible,  was  it  not  ? 
I  suppose  such  things  exist;  but  it  does  not  do  to 
think  about  them;  does  it?  Let  us  go  home  and 
forget  all  about  it."  Oh,  the  great  Sect  of  the 
j^othingists !  The  largest  denomination  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  Their  constitution,  purely 
negative,  is  never  a  subject  of  controversy  from 
within.  They  are  infallible !  How  the  Blessed 
Master,  who  went  about  doing  good,  despises  them ; 
for  they  are  the  contradiction  of  His  every  word 
and  deed. 

My  friends,  let  us  be  up  and  doing  for  Christ 
and  man.  Let  us  be  Christians,  not  !Nothingists. 
Let  us  for  the  future  live  our  old  life  in  the  old 
surroundings  in  a  new  way.  Duties  literally  spring 
out  of  the  ground  beneath  our  feet;  we  shall 
stumble  over  them  unless  we  have  a  care.  Let  us 
look  for  the  wounded  traveler  to-morrow  and  all 
the  days,  and  play  the  part  of  the  Good  Samaritan. 

(4)  Love:  Thank  God  that  we  have  this  figure 
to  close  with.  The  Good  Samaritan  was,  probably, 
an  ordinary  looking  man.  He  would  have  been  in 
appearance  most  disappointing  from  a  lady  novel- 
ist's point  of  view.  He  was  not  ai^rayed  in  embroi- 
dered phylacteries ;  his  advent  was  not  heralded  by  a 
trumpet  articulated  by  his  own  breath.  He  was  the 
kind  of  man  who  would  not  stand  out  in  a  crowd ; 


THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN  63 

but  he  himself,  and  his  purse,  were  at  the  service 
of  the  traveler.  How  often  we  meet  this  Figure  of 
Love.  More  often  to-daj  than  ever  before.  Unas- 
suming men  and  women  going  about  even  as  the 
Master  went  about  doing  good.  On  the  great  High- 
way, the  Open  Road  of  Human  Life,  amid  the 
anthems  of  the  glad,  the  groans  of  the  pain-racked, 
the  reptile  devilishness  of  the  Tempter,  above  the 
surging  conflict  of  tumultuous  opinion.  Love,  Be- 
jeweled  Love,  greater  than  faith,  more  majestic 
than  hope,  soothing,  comforting,  and  inspiring  in 
the  streets  and  haunts  of  men.  Jesus  incarnated 
in  the  person  of  His  Disciples. 


How  does  Christ  close  the  Parable?  With  an 
exhortation — ^brief,  terse,  and  emphatic — Go  thou, 
and  do  likewise. 


THE  CITIES  OF  REFUGE 

Joshua  20:  2.     "Speak  to  the  Children  of  Israel,  saying, 
Appoint  you  Cities  of  Refuge." 

'T^HE  ancient  Jews  were  the  happy  possessors  of 
■*■  Cities  of  Refuge.  The  murderer  who  had 
slain  his  fellow  man  unawares,  that  is,  unwittingly, 
and  who  in  our  superior  civilization  would  at  least 
be  found  guilty  of  manslaughter,  and  punished 
accordingly,  could  flee  to  any  one  of  these  several 
cities,  six  in  all,  and  be  free  from  the  assaults  of 
justice,  and  the  anger  of  the  avenging  kin.  It  was 
a  piece  of  Divine  Legislation  in  keeping  with  the 
wisdom  of  the  theocratic  government  of  the  Chosen 
People.  A  wholesome  and  merciful  allowance  was 
made  for  the  unpremeditated  weakness  of  men. 

He  is  a  wise  man  who  has  a  knowledge  of  his 
own  powers,  but  he  is  a  wiser  man  who  is  imbued 
with  an  accurate  consciousness  of  his  own  limita- 
tions ;  for  the  one  person  against  whom  we  have  all 
of  us  to  be  on  our  everlasting  guard  is  self.  In 
keeping,  then,  with  the  Israelites  of  olden  time. 


THE  CITIES  OF  REFUGE  65 

who  made  definite  provision  for  their  shortcomings, 
I  have  my  o^vn  cities  of  Refuge,  my  o^vn  Kedesh, 
and  Shechem,  and  Hebron,  and  Bezer,  and  Kamoth, 
and  Golan,  whither  I  flee  to  escape  my  implacable 
enemy — myse  If. 

For  myself  is  an  enemy  to  me ;  indeed  it  is ;  and 
in  this  respect  I  speak  for  all.  This  eminently 
respectable  myself — that  I  dress  in  as  good  clothes 
as  I  can  afford  to  buy,  and  in  the  uniform  of  the 
King  of  Kings  at  that,  that  I  feed  three  times  a 
day,  and  lay  down  to  sleep  eight  hours  out  of  twen- 
ty-four, that  I  exercise  systematically,  to  keep  the 
flush  of  health  upon  its  outer  casing,  that  I  would 
have  all  people  think  to  be  high-minded,  self-con- 
trolled, and  possessed  of  the  noblest  ideals ;  that,  in 
fact,  I  have  dared  to  set  up  in  pulpits,  and  on 
platforms,  and  made  preach  and  speak  to  appar- 
ently honest  folk,  telling  the  same  honest  folk  what 
they  ought  to  think,  to  say,  and  to  perform,  is  an 
enemy  to  me ;  is  in  truth,  a  fellow  I  should  hate  to 
have  any  one  know  too  well. 

My  perpetuated  warfare  has  ever  been  with 
this  same  myself — this  myself  where  hot  fevers 
dwell,  where  flerce  j)assions  run  riot,  where  the 
Devil,  entrenched  behind  the  barricade  of  flesh, 
flings  his  choking  gases,  and  by  strategy  unrecog- 
nized in  the  conventions  of  The  Hague  undermines 
the  citadel  of  my  cherished  self-respect.  The  sur- 
roundings of  my  life  may  from  time  to  time  be 


66  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

inimical  to  my  true  development,  the  maladversions 
of  my  fellow  men  may  contribute  to  the  frustration 
of  my  apprehension  of  the  Ego  as  ordained  of  God, 
but  my  inveterate  and  seemingly  invulnerable 
Arch  Antagonist,  the  danger  of  my  soul,  and 
the  peril  of  my  happiness,  is  this  unsleeping,  ever- 
vigilant,  persistently  jeering,  no-quarter-giving 
opponent,  myself. 

I  have,  therefore,  founded  and  equipped  Cities 
of  Refuge  where  I  may  flee  from  the  Jewry  of 
myself ;  Kedeshs,  and  Shechems,  and  Hebrons,  and 
Bezers,  and  Ramoths,  and  Golans  of  the  soul,  where 
I  may  fling  aside  the  accoutrements  of  conflict  and 
inaugurate  that  peace  which  is  alone  well  worth 
the  consummation,  the  armistice  of  myself  with  me. 

My  six  cities  of  Refuge  are  as  follows,  and  I 
hand  them  on  with  qualifications  of  temperament 
and  experience  to  those  of  you  who  are  intent  upon 
the  subjugation  of  the  forces  within  personality, 
rather  than  without. 

The  first,  and  I  think  the  foremost.  City  of 
Refuge  is  WORK.  I  work  now  because  I  like  it, 
I  have  come  in  this  respect  to  live  by  the  Law  of 
Liberty,  but  formerly  it  was  not  so.  In  the  old 
days  I  had  far  rather  spend  money  than  earn  it, 
and  I  could  loaf  as  thoroughly  and  wholeheartedly 
as  the  other  man ;  I  was  not  afraid  to  give  up  work 
and  be  a  parasite,  for  some  one  will  always  look 
out  for  the  lazy  as  well  as  the  sick.    But  now  I  work 


THE  CITIES  OF  REFUGE  67 

because  I  respect  myself  at  work,  and  am  at  rest 
with  the  finite  without  me,  and  the  infinite  within 
me.  I  find  that  when  I  am  at  work  I  am  Dr. 
Jekyll;  and  in  idleness  I  would  be  fearful  of  de- 
generating into  Mr.  Hyde.  Work  is  the  salvation 
of  my  soul,  not  in  an  evangelical  sense,  but  at  any 
rate  in  common  sense ;  for  it  saves  me  from  myself, 
the  horror  that  comes  home  to  men's  business  and 
bosoms.  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  by  my  own 
experience  and  observation  that  crime  is  largely 
the  product  of  leisure,  of  unrestrained  leisure,  and 
that  most  of  the  moral  lesions  that  affect  individ- 
uals could  be  cured  by  sawing  wood.  Oh !  the  joy, 
when  the  problems  of  life  get  too  agonizing  in  their 
masked  periodicity  for  the  consecutive  straining  of 
the  limited  human  mind ;  when  friends  disappoint 
us  in  their  inconsistency,  and  suggest  by  their 
behavior  the  untrustworthiness  of  human  nature ; 
when  health  falters  in  its  uphill  fight,  and  presses 
the  unbecoming  self -consciousness  of  the  body  upon 
a  refined  mental  perspective ;  when  domestic  affairs 
enervate  our  satisfaction  by  their  harrowing  ob- 
trusiveness;  when  the  reading  of  Biography  with 
its  completed  picture  of  the  individual  life  por- 
trayed in  a  few  hours'  reading  indicates  the  strug- 
gle of  life  as  inconsequential  placed  against  the 
background  of  its  undeniable  brevity;  when,  in 
fact,  things  go  wrong,  and  the  world  seems  impreg- 
nated with  the  impish  and  elfish  desire  to  strangle 


68  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

the  happiness  of  life ;  what  a  joj  to  hie  ourselves 
to  the  City  of  Work;  to  pass  through  the  time- 
honored  portals,  and  find  our  way  along  the  streets 
which  in  the  noise  of  their  traffic  deaden  the  sounds 
that  have  thronged  discordantly  upon  our  world- 
wearied  ears,  and  to  enter  the  hives  of  industry, 
where  in  occupation,  absorbing  occupation,  we  may 
find  the  solace  of  heartache,  and  the  anasthesia  of 
care. 


The  second  City  of  Refuge,  and  it  is  geograph- 
ically situated  hard  by  the  first,  is  the  City  of 
Order.  It  is  a  truism,  but  it  is  a  truism  frequently 
overlooked,  that  order  is  the  prerequisite  of  suc- 
cessful work ;  that  if  we  do  not  compel  ourselves  to 
system  we  get  little  accomplished,  and  that  little 
unsatisfactorily.  If  I  worked  only  when  I  felt  like 
it  you  could  contain  the  amount  in  a  pint  measure, 
and  the  quality  in  a  window-pane.  Inspiration  is 
all  right  in  its  place,  and  that  place  a  confined  area, 
but  occasional  inspiration  is  the  greatest  humbug 
let  loose  in  the  haunts  of  men.  The  heart  has  its 
habits  as  well  as  the  mind,  and  the  world's  best 
work,  noblest  poetry,  highest  art,  and  divinest 
prophecy  have  come  through  men  who  were  pound- 
ing away  so  many  hours  a  day;  who  appreciated 
the  fact  that  genius  is  largely  the  capacity  for  tak- 
ing infinite  pains.    Huxley  was  a  genius  in  natural 


THE  CITIES  OF  REFUGE  69 

science,  and  Huxley  worked  from  seven  o'clock  in 
the  morning  to  midnight  every  day  of  his  life,  with 
an  occasional  jaunt  to  Switzerland  or  Wales  to 
resuscitate  his  tired  body.  Archbishop  Benson  of 
Canterbury  was  an  ecclesiastical  genius,  and  yet  in 
his  Biography  written  by  his  son,  who  had  good 
cause  to  know  the  truth,  he  slept  only  five  hours 
out  of  the  twenty-four,  and  spent  the  other  nine- 
teen in  the  multifarious  duties  of  his  high  calling. 
So  with  all  the  gTeat  men  of  Art,  and  Letters,  and 
of  Professional  or  Commercial  reno^vn,  regularity 
of  application  has  ever  been  the  rule  and  not  the 
exception.  By  system  we  not  only  accomplish  so 
much  more,  but  we  achieve  a  peculiar  poise,  and  a 
blissful  contentment  with  self.  An  ordered  day  is 
like  a  swept  and  tidied  room ;  an  unordered  day 
is  like  a  cluttered  desk,  or  a  frowsy  woman.  The 
Shechem  of  Habit ;  ah !  this  is  a  City  which  if  one 
has  ever  visited  he  will  be  loath  to  leave.  The 
streets  of  the  City  are  pure  gold,  and  the  pavements 
are  of  precious  stones.  The  pilgrim  to  this  mecca 
of  peace  will  forget  his  nomadic  tendencies,  apply 
for  citizenship,  and  be  content  to  spend  his  life 
within  its  protective  walls. 

The  third  City  of  Refuge  is  Family.  Any  man 
would  be  ashamed  to  confess  how  many  vile  and 
blackguard  thoughts  and  possibilities,  have  lunged 
at  him  only  to  be  warded  off  by  this  heart  shield ; 
how,  not  sometimes,  but  often,  the  presence  of  the 


70  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

wife  and  the  wistful  faces  of  the  little  children, 
have  bestowed  peace,  and  averted  disaster,  as  if  an 
army  with  banners  had  moved  to  the  succour  of  a 
beleaguered  town.  A  good  bachelor  must  be  either 
a  strong  and  noble  man,  or  an  anaemic,  bloodless 
paste.  Most  of  us  are  neither ;  we  are  just  ordinary 
men,  we  are  simply  human  without  any  qualifica- 
tions, and  ordinary,  human  men  need  a  wife  and 
children  as  a  locomotive  needs  an  engineer,  to  pre- 
vent a  wreck,  as  well  as  to  make  it  go.  This  is  the 
Inner  City  in  a  man's  life,  the  Secret  City  such 
as  exists  in  China,  and  such  as  was  to  be  found  in 
ancient  urban  civilizations  dissipated  in  the  cen- 
turies. Here  is  the  City  which  stands  sentinel  in 
the  center  of  the  outlying  circle  of  all  the  cities  of 
Refuge — the  Hebron  of  the  Heart — and  into  which 
a  man  may  shut  himself  unpursued  by  the  hosts  of 
the  market  place.  There  is  sometimes  a  pain  await- 
ing a  man  across  his  own  threshold,  but  there  is 
the  anodyne  of  love  to  soothe  the  wounded  feelings, 
and  to  foster  hope  in  the  travail  of  despair.  There 
is  sunshine  there,  and  calm,  and  the  odor  of  fra- 
grant flowers,  and  an  earth  and  sky  crowded  with  a 
flooded  glory.  The  gates  of  this  City  stand  open 
by  day  and  night,  and  the  humblest  man  in  the 
estimation  of  his  fellow-men  may  pass  inside  the 
charmed  area,  and  receive  as  a  King  within  his 
kingdom  the  homage  of  his  subjects.  The  only 
requisite  is  that  the  King  shall  be  kingly,  and 


THE  CITIES  OF  REFUGE  71 

reign  by  the  virtue  of  a  selfless  regard  for  the  wel- 
fare of  all.  The  City  of  Home !  Blessed  indeed  is 
the  man,  blessed  indeed  is  the  woman,  who  has 
such  a  refuge  from  all  the  malevolences  of  life; 
who  has  the  privilege  of  escape  from  the  larger 
world  to  this  smaller  world,  this  world  within  the 
world ;  who  by  their  sacrifice  of  short-sighted  self- 
ishness have  the  opportunity  at  any  hour  of  leav- 
ing the  outer  court  with  its  discordant  necessities 
for  the  Holy  Place,  where  law  is  submerged  in  the 
dictates  of  love,  and  the  atmosphere  is  vibrant  with 
the  harmonies  of  Heaven.  Such  is  Hebron  in  the 
Hill  Country  of  Judah;  fairer,  and  more  secure 
than  all  the  Cities  of  the  Plain. 

The  fourth  City  of  Refuge  is  Forgiveness.  I 
am  speaking  of  the  escape  from  self,  and  self  is 
never  so  tyrannical  as  when  its  amour  propre  is 
wounded  by  the  aspersions,  just  or  unjust,  of  other 
people.  It  is  then  that  self  learns  to  hate,  and  the 
only  hope  of  contentment  lies  in  flight  to  the  city 
of  forgiveness,  Bezer,  beyond  the  Jordan  at  Jer- 
icho eastward.  For  hate,  my  friends,  does  not  pay. 
It  is  pure  waste.  It  exhausts  our  vital  forces,  and 
gives  us  nothing  in  return.  Why  should  I  let  my 
enemy  rob  me  of  sleep  ?  I  shall  put  aside  all  feel- 
ing about  him,  even  if  it  takes  as  much  moral  ef- 
fort as  a  drunkard  needs  to  refuse  his  drink.  I 
shall  endeavor  to  emulate  the  immortal  Lincoln,  of 
whom  Emerson  says,  "His  heart  was  as  large  as  the 


72  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

world,  yet  it  had  no  room  in  it  for  the  memory  of  a 
wrong."  I  shall  strive  to  practise  the  common  sense 
axiom  of  Paul  Morton  who  when  asked  if  he  did 
not  like  to  get  even  with  anyone  who  had  done  him 
an  injury,  replied,  "No,  I  haven't  time.  I  am  too 
busy."  To  get  rid  of  hate  and  its  spendthrift 
results  we  must  hie  ourselves  to  the  City  of  For- 
giveness, the  city  set  upon  the  Heights.  To  bear 
grudges,  to  harbor  bitter  animosities,  to  wish  evil 
to  any  man,  is  to  dwell  in  the  miasmatic  swamps 
of  the  lowlands,  and  to  roam  at  large  in  the  uncir- 
cumscribed  spaces  of  Judaea  subjected  to  all  the 
requirements  of  the  law  for  man.  I  know  of 
nothing  that  so  robs  the  soul  of  peace,  and  the  life 
of  that  equanimity  which  is  essential  to  correspond- 
ence with  opportunity,  as  the  dwelling  upon  the 
wrongs  inflicted  upon  us,  wittingly  or  unwittingly, 
by  our  fellow-men.  It  takes  the  angel  out  of  us,  it 
dries  the  fountain  of  charity  within  our  heart,  and 
turns  the  crystal  water  into  poison.  It  deprives 
the  mind  even  of  the  power  of  concentration,  and 
is  a  certain  prelude  to  paucity  of  thought  and 
effort.  The  City  of  Forgiveness,  easy  of  access, 
and  nearer  at  hand  than  all  the  Cities  of  refuge,  is 
within  reach  of  the  angered  heart  and  the  clouded 
brain,  and  welcomes  its  pilgrims  with  the  out- 
stretched arms  of  Jesus  Christ  Himself  who  said, 
"Love  your  enemies ;  do  good  to  those  who  despite- 
fully  use  you;  forgive  your  Brethren  their  debts, 


THE  CITIES  OF  REFUGE  73 

even  as  jou  would  expect  God  to  forgive  you  your 
trespasses." 

The  fifth  City  of  Refuge  is  Humor.  I  say  this 
in  all  seriousness,  for  I  believe  with  all  my  heart 
in  the  religious  value  of  humor.  Self  is  prone  to 
take  itself  too  seriously,  to  esteem  itself  above  its 
just  deserts,  and  the  only  effective  medicine  for 
recovery,  a  bitter  physic,  but  most  necessary,  is 
laughter.  The  higher  moods  of  the  soul  have 
always  a  tendency  to  grow  unhealthy.  It  is  but  a 
step  from  the  ripe  to  the  rotten,  and  spiritual 
ecstasy  is  apt  to  run  into  refined  sensuousness. 
What  an  argument,  or  a  text  of  scripture,  could 
never  reach  has  been  transfixed  by  a  smile. 
The  Walls  of  many  a  spiritual  Jericho  folly  have 
tumbled  at  the  sound  of  laughter.  For  the  dis- 
tinguishing quality  of  humor  is  its  inherent  sanity. 
People  deep  in  love  do  not  laugh  much,  because 
they  are  quite  insane.  The  egotist,  besieged  with 
an  overweening  sense  of  dignity,  also  laughs  but 
little,  because  he  is  altogether  crazy.  The  Religious 
Bigot  is  monstrously  solemn  for  the  same  reason. 
When  Self  would  insist  that  the  Hemispheres  are 
revolving  around  you  as  their  orbit,  and  so  infer 
that  the  community  is  inappreciative  of  the  ines- 
timable privilege  of  possessing  you  as  a  fellow 
citizen,  look  in  the  Mirror,  my  friend,  and  behold- 
ing the  face  of  a  simpering  and  self-inflated  fool, 
laugh  until  the  tears  come  into  your  eyes,  that,  cry- 


74  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

ing  with  hilarity  you  may  purge  mediocrity  of 
its  esteemed  infallibility !  The  City  of  Humor, 
Ramoth  in  Gilead,  the  home  of  the  Gadarenes ;  the 
City  of  Fun ;  where  would  we  be,  most  of  us,  with 
our  long-drawn  faces,  and  our  grotesque  self-im- 
portanoe,  if  we  never  entered  its  hospitable  enclos- 
ures, and  permitted  ourselves  temi)orary  residence 
at  least  in  its  homes  of  health  and  merriment !  How 
altogether  insupportable  would  be  the  burden  of 
living,  and  how  implacable  the  fact  of  death!  I 
entered  its  precincts  when  the  load  of  myself  and 
the  weight  of  my  fellows  was  as  a  leaden  pack  that 
crushed  my  enfeebled  shoulders  to  the  ground,  and 
what  did  I  find  ?  Why,  the  humor  of  kindly 
hearts,  the  friendly  wit  that  was  bubbling  over 
with  a  filled  to  the  brim  humanity,  surgical  smiles 
that  lanced  my  too  sickly  sentiments,  sunny 
laughter  that  rebuked  my  narrow  thought,  and  dis- 
infectant raillery  that  played  fond  havoc  with  my 
egotisms.  The  inhabitants  were  friends,  each  and 
every  one  of  them,  and  their  friendship  was  mani- 
fested in  this — that  they  made  my  follies  appear 
ridiculous. 

The  last  City  of  Refuge,  for  though  there  are 
many  more  I  confine  myself  to  six  that  our  allegory 
may  he  complete,  is  the  Church.  Here,  if  you  will, 
is  a  resort  far  removed  from  the  world  of  men,  and 
in  which  the  world  of  self  is  translated  into  the 


THE  CITIES  OF  REFUGE  73 

fairest  colors,  and  the  most  likeable  proportions. 
A  City  set  upon  an  hill,  eternal  in  time  and  lasting 
in  eternity ;  the  Golan  of  Bashan  on  Earth,  and  the 
ISTew  Jerusalem  in  the  Heavens.  Whatever  your 
sorrows,  whatever  your  sins,  whatever  the  struggles 
within,  and  the  manifold  wrestlings  without,  this  is 
none  other  than  the  metropolis  of  the  Soul,  and 
the  Capitol  of  the  Heart  of  Man. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  however,  that  traveling  to 
this  City  of  Refuge,  that  going  to  Church,  is  some- 
what out  of  fashion.  So  much  so,  in  fact,  that  it  is 
fashionable  in  certain  quarters  to  jest  at  the  travel- 
lers who  are  accustomed  to  make  the  journey.  A 
jesting,  by  the  way,  that  bespeaks  the  possession  of 
the  most  elementary  sense  of  wit,  and  which  re- 
dounds to  the  excruciating  taste  of  the  jester.  By 
this  present  widespread  unpopularity  of  the  city  of 
Golan  we  are  missing  much  that  is  truly  fine 
and  well  worth  while ;  and  we  are  permitting 
the  gratuitous  assumptions  of  impertinent  people 
to  rob  us  of  a  sterling  privilege. 

Why  should  we  flee  periodically  to  this  City  of 
Refuge  ?  Here  is  one  reason,  and  not  the  deepest 
nor  the  most  spiritual.  Because  it  is  the  oldest  City 
upon  the  face  of  the  Earth.  Under  one  name  or 
another  it  has  always  existed,  and  its  antiquity  ante- 
dates even  the  beginning  of  Free  Masonry.  It  is  a 
comfort  and  an  inspiration  to  belong  to  an  organiza- 
tion that  has  persisted  throughout  the  smiles  and  the 


76  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

frowns  of  the  Ages.  In  the  Church  as  she  is  to-day 
we  claim  membership  with  that  Institution  whose 
"Altar  Fires  Moses  builded  in  the  Wilderness, 
whose  services  were  held  in  the  Catacombs  of  Rome 
in  the  reign  of  Nero,  whose  lofty  Cathedrals  grace 
Milan  and  Cologne,  and  whose  weekly  gatherings 
still  take  place  in  every  hamlet  and  city  of  the  civ- 
ilized world."  I  am  drawn  as  with  the  cords  of  a 
magnet  to  this  antiquity,  to  this  connected  triumph 
over  time,  and  I  feel  with  pride  that  I  am  a  Citizen 
of  no  mean  City.  So  for  this  reason,  and  for  many 
others,  I  deplore  the  present  smallness  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Golan,  and  advocate  a  wholesale  Pilg-rim- 
age  to  her  numerous  shrines. 


Kedesh,  Shechem,  Hebron,  Bezer,  Ramoth, 
Golan — and  the  Greatest  of  these  is  Golan;  the 
City  of  God. 


COURAGE 

Joshua  10:  25.     "Be  strong,  and  of  a  good  courage." 

IWAN'T  to  speak  to  you  about  what  has  been 
called  "the  loftiest  of  all  human  qualities."  A 
quality  which  is  much  in  evidence  in  this  era  of 
unprecedented  warfare — in  the  countries  involved 
in  bloodshed,  as  well  as  in  our  own,  until  recently, 
neutral  land,  where  preparedness  is  the  question  of 
the  hour.  A  quality  which  all  educated  and  effec- 
tive life  demands,  in  the  home,  in  the  counting 
house,  in  the  halls  of  learning,  and  in  the  houses 
of  parliament.  A  quality  which  has  many  specious 
counterfeits,  and  concerning  which  our  thought 
ought  to  be  clarified. 

That  quality,  then,  and  my  subject,  is  courage. 
The  derivation  of  the  word,  as  I  have  recently 
discovered  through  extensive  reading,  for  it  never 
occurred  to  me  of  my  own  volition,  is  "cor" — the 
heart  of  a  man.  For  anyone  to  lose  heart,  as  the 
saying  is,  is  to  lose  courage — the  power  of  passive 
or  aggressive  resistence.  Courage  is  the  foundation, 


78  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

the  groundwork,  of  a  man — as  a  man's  courage  is, 
80  is  the  man.  I  have  also  discovered  that  the 
Ancients,  in  their  analytical  wisdom,  gave  to  cour- 
age the  name  of  "virtus^' — the  substance  of  all  the 
virtues. 

ISTow  this  courage — this  Cor,  the  heart  of  a 
man — this  virtus,  the  substance  of  all  the  virtues, 
is  never  found  in  the  fulness  of  its  proportions  in 
any  man.  We  may  be  courageous  in  this  or  that 
part  of  our  nature;  but  we  are  not  courageous  in 
all.  I  know  a  man  in  Canada  who  recently  re- 
ceived the  D.  S.  O.,  the  Distinguished  Service 
Order,  for  conspicuous  bravery  upon  the  field  of 
battle.  He  has  my  admiration  as  a  courageous 
man,  courageous  in  the  face  of  physical  danger. 
But  I  know  the  man  in  his  life  of  peaceful  pursuit 
at  home,  and  he  is  the  most  timidly  conservative 
of  men ;  afraid  to  express  an  opinion  that  every- 
body else  does  not  express  upon  matters  of  current 
concern.  He  would  never  receive  a  D.  S.  O.  so 
far  as  his  intellectual  processes  are  involved.  He 
is  a  physical  hero,  and  a  mental  coward. 

I  know  a  man — I  would  not  have  to  travel 
far  to  find  him — I  rather  imagine  that  I  am  that 
kind  of  man  myself — who  is  fearless  so  far  as  the 
Truth  is  concerned,  who  does  not  confound  ortho- 
doxy with  the  summum  honum  of  thought,  and  who 
would  not  let  any  ecclesiastical  tribunal  do  his 
thinking  for  him,  and  yet  he  shivers  at  the  necessity 


THE  GRACE  OF  COURAGE  79 

of  punishing  a  recalcitrant  dog,  for  fear  that  the 
dog  may  devour  him !  He  is  an  intellectual  hero ; 
but  apparently  a  physical  coward. 

So  is  it  with  all  men.  No  man  is  synthetically 
courageous ;  courageous  in  every  department  of  his 
nature.  Somewhere,  or  other,  he  has  his  breaking 
strain.  "Find  out  the  region  of  a  man's  courage, 
and  you  have  discovered  the  man." 

Now,  what  are  some  of  the  kinds  of  courage 
of  which  human  nature  is  capahle  f 

(1)  As  already  indicated,  there  is  physical 
courage :  Such  courage  is  not  to  be  despised.  It  is 
worthy  of  the  Victoria  Cross,  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor,  of  the  Iron  Cross,  and  of  that  Cross  which 
is  so  prolific  on  the  battle-fields  of  Europe  to-day 
— the  wooden  cross  upon  a  hastily  constructed 
grave.  All  honor  to  the  man  who  is  calm,  and  col- 
lected, in  the  hour  of  vital  crisis,  and  who  is  com- 
petent to  stand  in  the  presence  of  death  without 
a  tremor. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  physical  courage  is 
instinctive ;  that  it  is  an  initial  gift,  inherent  in 
the  individual,  and  that  it  cannot  be  cultivated. 
N'o  doubt,  with  qualifications,  this  is  true ;  although 
one  would  be  prone  here  to  substitute  insensibility 
to  danger,  for  courage.  There  are  those  to  whom  it 
is  as  natural  to  cringe  with  fear,  as  it  is  for  others 
to  meet  peril  with  unflinching  mein.  Physical 
courage,  however,  may  be  cultivated. 


80  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Again,  I  would  say  that  I  have  spoken  to  many 
men  who  have  spent  the  last  two  years,  off  and  on, 
in  the  trenches  of  Flanders,  and  elsewhere.  They 
have  told  me,  almost  without  exception,  that  the 
first  experience  of  being  under  fire  is  a  harrowing 
experience,  that  a  man  had  rather  be  anywhere  in 
the  world  than  exposed  to  the  hail  of  shrapnel,  and 
the  fumes  of  choking  gas.  The  first  inclination  is 
often  an  inclination  to  run,  to  run  anyw^here,  to 
get  away  from  the  livid  hell  of  flame,  and  the 
nerve  torture  of  unremittent  sound.  But,  as  ex- 
perience increases,  and  as  a  man's  will  and  reason 
come  to  the  rescue  of  his  bodily  weakness,  courage, 
unfailing  courage,  becomes  second  nature,  so  per- 
sistent in  its  exercise  as  to  be  unconscious  in  its 
performance  to  the  possessor. 

We  should,  as  individuals,  and  as  a  nation, 
cultivate  the  virtue  of  physical  courage.  The  con- 
ditions of  modern  life  are  against  the  condition, 
and  its  achievement.  The  prevalence  of  unprece- 
dented luxury  is  unfavorable  to  the  existence, 
and  the  development  of  physical  courage.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  our  life;  the  comforts  which  sur- 
round us  on  every  side,  pampering  the  body  to  the 
verge  of  softness  and  beyond ;  are  inimical  to  that 
stoicism  of  endurance  so  noticeable  in  the  Fathers 
of  our  Republic.  America,  through  her  very  late 
participation  in  this  world  war,  is  in  danger  of 
sinking  into  the  slough  of  luxury — that  luxury 


THE  GRACE  OF  COURAGE  81 

which  enervates  the  sinews  and  the  resistance  of 
a  people,  in  the  individual  and  the  mass.  The 
nations  of  Europe  have,  at  least,  escaped  with  their 
manhood,  and  the  stream  of  self-indulgence  which 
thej  have  washed  off  with  the  horrors  of  conflict 
is  flowing  westward.  War  is  a  stern  school,  but 
it  is  a  school  where  men  learn  noble  things,  and 
Belgium,  France,  England,  Russia,  and  the  rest 
have  been  crucified  upon  the  cross  of  duty,  and 
their  resurrection  is  assured.  We  have  to  beware 
lest  in  America  after  this  war  is  over  children  are 
fewer  and  fewer ;  men  more  and  more  profligate ; 
and  women  more  and  more  pleasure  loving;  imtil 
some  great  cataclysm  of  physical  degeneracy  en- 
folds us  in  a  deluge  of  besotted  self-indulgence. 
We  must  consciously  educate  ourselves  in  physical 
courage,  learning  to  endure  hardness  as  good  sol- 
diers in  all  departments  of  life,  because  all  types 
of  courage  are  related  to,  and  closely  dependent 
upon,  the  physical.  Boldness  of  body  begets  bold- 
ness of  mind  and  spirit.  Physical  courage  is 
symptomatic  and  correlative,  as  well  as  absolute. 

(2)  Moral  courage:  Although  associated  with 
physical  courage,  moral  courage  stands  upon  a 
higher  plane.  The  root  idea  of  its  expression  is 
based  upon  principle.  To  be  morally  brave  we 
must  be  moved  by  a  superlative  motive  superior 
to  all  other  considerations.  To  do  what  we  consider 
to  be  the  right  thing  to  do,  whatever  other  people 


82  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

may  say ;  to  move  onwards  over  all  obstacles  toward 
some  conscientious  result;  that  is  moral  courage. 
To  tread  popularity  under  foot  for  the  sake  of 
principle;  that  it  is  to  be  truly  heroic.  What 
picturesqueness  moral  courage  would  give  to  life, 
if  universally  applied.  Life  is  dull  in  exact  pro- 
portion to  our  moral  cowardice.  People  speak 
alike;  dress  alike;  act  alike;  and,  God  help  those 
of  us  who  are  handsome,  are  actually  beginning  to 
look  alike !  Civilization  tends  toward  uniformity ; 
whereas  progress  is  achieved,  and  interest  and 
enthusiasm  are  maintained,  through  diversity. 
Only  moral  courage  may  slay  unanimity;  there- 
fore, moral  courage  is  what  we  need  above  all 
things. 

A  public  holiday  is  past.  We  are  still  living 
in  the  aroma  of  its  occurrence.  Was  it  not,  as  all 
holidays  are,  soul  benumbing,  and  stifling  to  our 
artistic  sense?  A  prevalent  monotony  held  us  in 
its  bloodletting  grip.  The  creaking  boots;  the 
Sunday  clothes  of  the  poor.  The  smoking  motors, 
and  the  immaculate  clothes  of  the  rich.  The  tired 
children  at  the  close  of  day,  and  the  still  more 
tired  parents.  The  sameness  of  occupation,  or  the 
lack  of  occupation,  clogged  upon  us  all.  What  a 
difference  to-day.  The  factories,  and  shops,  and 
homes,  are  thronged  with  men  and  women  and  chil- 
dren performing  their  specialized  tasks,  ^o  two 
people  are  doing  the  same  thing,  or  at  any  rate, 


THE  GRACE  OF  COURAGE  83 

thej  are  not  doing  it  in  the  same  way.  The  call 
of  duty  has  produced  variety.  Moral  courage  in 
its  operation  has  cleared  the  murky  skies.  Or, 
think  of  our  homes  as  an  illustration.  They  are 
furnished  with  the  furniture  with  which  our  neigh- 
bors' homes,  of  the  same  social  status,  are  fur- 
nished. It  is  all  desperately  dull,  and  boresome. 
But,  if  each  family  decked  their  houses  with  those 
things  which  predilection  would  suggest,  irrespec- 
tive of  their  neighbors'  estimation  of  the  appro- 
priateness of  the  decoration,  we  should  have  a 
charming  variety  of  taste's  expression,  calculated 
to-  alleviate  monotony,  and  enlarge  the  will  to 
live! 

The  ordinary  man  needs  the  moral  courage  to 
adventure  the  extraordinary  thing.  To  live  out  the 
law  of  our  o^vn  being,  and  to  do  the  things  that  we 
are  meant  to  do,  and  so  achieve  our  self-realization 
upon  the  highest  levels,  would  make  the  world 
worth  while.  We  should  have  our  Daniels  then  in 
Babylon,  and  our  Pauls  in  Rome. 

What  a  field  there  is  in  business  for  the  practice 
of  moral  courage.  A  man  told  me  not  long  ago  that 
it  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  be  honest  in  business. 
He  said  that  all  is  fair  in  war,  love,  and  business ; 
that  if  you  would  get  ahead  of  the  other  man  you 
must  be  Cassius-like  in  your  shrewdness.  The 
man  was  a  liar,  and,  in  his  heart  of  hearts,  I  think 
that  he  knew  that  he  was  a  liar,  and  that  he  was 


84  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

indulging  in  the  culpable  man's  exercise  of  special 
pleading.  Any  man  with  moral  courage  can  be 
honest  anywhere,  in  whatever  situation  be  may 
happen  to  be  placed — whether  in  the  sale  of  tobacco, 
or  in  the  sale  of  Gospel  Goods.  To  face  the  possi- 
bility of  poverty  like  a  man,  and  to  know  that  to 
be  rich  is  a  mixed  blessing ;  to  face  the  possibility 
of  mediocrity  like  a  man,  and  to  know  that  to  be 
prominent  is  not  necessarily  to  be  happy ;  such  an 
attitude,  induced  and  superinduced  by  moral  cour- 
age, spells  honesty  in  any  vocation.  As  business 
men,  as  professional  men,  as  sociological  experts, 
as  civic  reformers,  let  us  build  our  outlook  and 
our  endeavors  upon  the  cornerstone  of  moral  cour- 
age, then  the  building  which  we  rear  of  all  our  life's 
opportunities  will  be  well  compacted  together,  and 
able  to  withstand  the  winds  and  the  storms  of 
antagonistic  and  adverse  oppositions. 

(3)  Intellectual  Courage:  So  far  as  our  minds 
are  concerned  we  are  either  imitative,  or  self- 
assertive.  We  either  accept  the  opinions  of  other 
people  as  our  own,  or  we  assume  the  opposite  of 
what  our  fellows  believe  to  be  true.  We  are  either 
conservative  or  radical,  and  so  are  afraid  of  either 
the  charge  of  radicalism  or  conservatism.  It  is 
thus  that  we  are  temperamentally  disposed,  but  to 
rest  there,  to  remain  throughout  our  life  as  we  were 
constituted  at  our  birth,  is  to  be  in  either  case  a 
coward.     We  are  to  seek  truth  for  truth's  sake, 


THE  GRACE  OF  COURAGE  85 

irrespective  as  to  whether  or  no  we  agree  in  con- 
viction with  the  conservative  or  the  iconoclast. 

Take  Politics:  To  what  is  the  prevailing  apathy, 
and,  withal,  the  fantastic  enthusiasm,  of  Americans 
in  relation  to  things  governmental,  due  ?  Not 
ignorance ;  we  have  a  genius,  an  innate  sagacity, 
for  public  affairs.  Not  a  low  standard  of  morality ; 
we  are,  as  a  people,  essentially  moral.  It  is  a  float- 
ing with  the  tide ;  or  a  fighting  of  the  current  for 
mere  fighting's  sake. 

Neither  the  Republican  nor  the  Democrat  has 
a  monopoly  of  cowardice.  To  listen  to  what  the 
crowd  say,  in  order  to  affinn  Amen,  or  No,  is  not 
brave.    One  is  as  weak  as  the  other. 

What  is  needed  politically,  as  in  many  other 
directions  that  one  might  name,  is  that  people 
should  think  for  themselves,  and  form  their  opin- 
ions for  themselves,  whether  their  opinion  is  agree- 
able or  hostile  to  what  other  people  think  and 
believe.  Then  we  should  have  statesmen,  not  poli- 
ticians, and  truth  would  reign  supreme,  with  fair 
face  uplifted  to  the  sky. 

We  have  spoken  then,  in  fragmentary  fashion, 
about  courage ;  physical,  moral,  and  mental. 

How  may  we  he  courageous  in  body,  mind,  and 
soul?  (1)  We  must  possess  the  power  of  being 
possessed:  We  must  know  what  it  is  to  be  mastered 
by  an  idea.  Seeing  all  objects  we  are  to  select  one 
toward  which,  with  might  and  main,  we  shall  strive. 


86  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

With  Paul,  we  must  be  able  in  all  truthfulness  to 
assert,  "this  one  thing  I  do."  Our  energy  is  to  be 
concentrative,  not  diffusive. 

(2)  We  must  he  devoid  of  self -consciousness. 
To  be  always  thinking  of  one's  self  is  death  to 
every  noble  thought  and  act.  Self-consciousness  is 
the  suicide  of  courage.  Affectation  is  personal 
damnation.  To  be  mastered  by  a  principle  one 
must  be  selfless.  The  coward  is  always  the  "pro 
and  con  egotist." 

(3)  We  mu^t  glorify  and  achieve  simplicity: 
I  am  not  great,  great  as  a  man,  or  great  as  a 
preacher,  unless  I  am  clever  enough  to  be  simple. 
Complexity  is  a  dissipation  of  energy.  "Except 
ye  become  as  a  little  child,"  in  business,  and  in  all 
else,  ye  cannot  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  cour- 
ageous hearts. 

Directness,  self-forgetfulness,  and  simplicity, 
well  mixed  together,  and  the  ingredients  of  each 
proportionately  mixed  together,  this  is  the  recipe  of 
courage — courage  physical,  mental,  and  moral. 

All  hail,  then,  to  courage.  This  is  the  funda- 
mental, the  soul-quality,  needed  in  the  solution  of 
America's  problems,  in  the  small  and  in  the  great. 
We  must  have  courage,  in  the  singular  and  in  the 
plural,  if,  in  the  words  of  Phillips  Brooks,  we 
would  place  upon  humanity's  candlestick  a  new 
type  of  virile  manhood  to  give  light  to  the  world. 

I  can  see  no  transfigured  future  ahead  of  us. 


THE  GRACE  OF  COURAGE  87 

in  the  reconstruction  of  society  which  trembles  in 
the  womb  of  to-morrow's  peace ;  no  vindication  of 
the  travail  which  has  ushered  us  into  nationhood; 
without  the  possession  of  courage,  domestic,  com- 
mercial, professional,  political,  literary,  social,  and 
religious.  Let  us  then,  as  individuals,  and  as  an 
organization,  be  "strong  and  of  a  good  courage." 

Note  :  In  this  sermon  the  author  is  obviously 
indebted  to  a  well-known  article  in  "The  Published 
Addresses  of  Phillips  Brooks." 


"THE  BOOKS  WERE  OPENED" 

Revelation  20:  12. 

npiIIS  is  a  figure  of  speech,  and,  as  such,  stands 
■■■  for  something.  The  Bible  from  beginning  to 
end  pictures  divine  truths  under  the  garb  of 
metaphor,  or  simile,  to  meet  the  level  of  our  finite 
minds.  The  divine  is  expressed,  and  necessarily 
so,  in  terms  of  the  human. 

"The  Books  were  opened."  A  material  Book 
in  an  immaterial  world!  How  absurd.  The 
phrase,  however,  has  its  significance ;  a  significance 
that  could  not  be  portrayed  otherwise  to  mortal 
man.  What  does  it  mean  ?  It  refers,  of  course, 
to  the  Judgment.  It  is  the  evidence  accumulated 
through  this  probationary  life  by  which  ultimately 
we  shall  be  justified  or  condemned.  It  stands  for 
determinative  self-collected  testimony. 

Some  years  ago  I  walked  through  the  Insane 
Asylum  at  Verdun  in  the  Province  of  Quebec. 
There  was  an  inmate  there  who  told  me  that  he 
had  been  dead  ten  times.     Upon  the  last  occasion, 


THE  OPENED  BOOKS  89 

immediately  succeeding  his  demise,  he  was  ushered 
into  the  presence  of  the  Recording  Angel.  A  Book 
was  lying  upon  the  bejewelled  table.  "Mr.  Smith," 
said  the  Angel,  "you  have  been  responsible  for 
much  evil."  The  man  protested  his  innocence ;  he 
asserted  that  he  had  been  "a  good  living  man", 
doing  unto  others  as  he  would  that  others  should 
do  unto  him.  The  Book  was  opened,  and  the  Angel 
said,  "read  the  record  of  your  transgressions." 
The  man  read,  and  there  was  a  detailed  account  of 
his  sins  written  in  his  own  handwriting.  The  poor 
lunatic,  you  see,  reached  the  root  of  the  matter. 
It  was  a  case  of  self-collected  testimony. 

"The  Books  were  opened."  What  are  these 
Boohs,  filled  in  hy  ourselves?  (1)  There  is  the 
Booh  of  Memory:  Memory  is  a  wonderful,  inde- 
finable, and  miracle-wrought  function  of  person- 
ality, artificial  and  treacherous,  dependent  upon 
complex  conditions.  It  is  the  servant  of  our  wills, 
and  yet  their  master.  It  fails  us  when  we  need  it 
most,  and  it  oftentimes  tortures  us  when  we  would 
desire  the  past  to  be  drowned  in  the  sea  of  oblivion. 
There  is  a  peculiar  theory  abroad  at  the  present 
time  about  memory.  It  is  said  by  psychologists  of 
note  that  we  are  possessed  of  a  dual  consciousness. 
There  is  the  conscious,  or  empirical  self,  the  self 
of  every-day  activities,  and  there  is  the  subcon- 
scious, or  subjective  self  beneath  the  surface  of 
immediate  consciousness  which  carries  on  the  me- 


90  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

chanical  operations  of  the  body  such  as  the  beat- 
ing of  the  heart,  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and 
the  expansion  of  the  lungs.  This  subconscious  self 
is  the  seat  of  memory.  It  contains  and  retains  all 
our  submerged  knowledge ;  all  the  impressions  of 
our  personal  past,  and  the  recollections  of  bygone 
days.  What  we  are  aware  of  at  any  moment  is  a 
millioneth  j^art  of  what  we  really  know.  All  that 
we  are  not  thinking  of  is  reserved  in  the  subcon- 
scious self  to  come  to  the  surface  as  opportunity 
dictates.  The  latest  belief  about  this  subconscious 
self  is  that  it  is  the  soul.  There  is  much  to  fortify 
this  idea,  such  as  the  superior  morality  of  the  sub- 
conscious self  under  hypnotic  influence  to  the  reg- 
ular workings  of  the  conscious  self.  The  argument, 
then,  shines  clear.  Memory  is  part  of  the  sub- 
liminal, or  subjective  self — the  subliminal  self  is 
the  soul — the  soul  is  immortal — therefore,  the  sub- 
liminal self  with  its  memory  endures  for  the  ever- 
lasting to-morrow  as  well  as  for  the  transitory 
to-day.  This  memory,  when  we  cast  aside  the 
garments  of  mortality,  will  flood  our  spirit  as 
never  before,  because  it  will  be  the  only  personality 
of  which  we  are  possessed.  Our  life's  course  will 
be  inscribed  before  our  eyes,  and  every  trifling 
incident  of  our  personal  history  will  be  graven 
indelibly  upon  the  walls  of  memory.  Out  of  our- 
selves will  pass  the  everlasting  sentence  of  happi- 
ness or  despair. 


THE  OPENED  BOOKS  91 

There  is  another  remarkable  thing  about  mem- 
ory. We  hear  the  aged  recount  the  scenes  of  their 
lives  in  minutest  detail.  They  recall  every  trivial 
incident,  even  to  the  date  of  the  occurrence,  the 
state  of  the  weather,  the  color  of  dress,  and  the 
inflexion  of  language.  We,  in  our  youth,  or  early 
maturity,  wonder  as  we  listen.  We  find  it  difficult 
to  remember  even  the  importunate  happenings  of 
the  past  decade.  It  is  a  psychological  fact  that  as 
people  grow  older  memory  becomes  possessed  of  a 
graphic  realism  not  duplicated  up  to  the  age  of 
three  score  years  and  ten.  The  subconscious  self 
comes  uppermost.  The  logical  supposition,  then, 
is  this — if  memory  close  to  the  period  of  natural 
death  is  enlightened,  after  death,  memory,  which 
is  indestructible,  shall  be  cleared  of  all  impediment. 

Memory  is  one  of  the  Books  in  that  small-sized 
library  of  ours  which  shall  judge  us  at  the  last. 
Let  us  then  beware  of  what  we  are  storing  our 
memory  with,  of  what  we  are  writing  for  all  time 
in  that  Book.  Good  impressions  shall  bear  us  in 
good  stead,  wicked  sentences  shall  shine  forth  in 
indelible  ink  forever.  What  horrible  reading  we 
have  got  there  already !  Ill-temper,  impurity,  dis- 
honesty, slander,  unneighborliness.  We  must  set 
to  work  at  once  to  remedy  matters.  We  may  not 
erase  that  which  has  been  written,  but  we  may 
strive  to  balance  and  outweigh  evil  with  good. 
The  worst  kind  of  hell  mav,   for  all  we  know. 


92  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

consist  in  an  eternal  recollection  of  wickedness. 
Heaven  may  find  its  fullest  expression  in  an 
eternal  remembrance  of  virtue. 

(2)  There  is  the  Booh  of  Conscience:  Con- 
science is  a  much-disputed  term.  The  theory  of 
conscience  ranges  from  that  of  the  evolutionist, 
that  in  the  process  of  development  through  the 
ages  we  have  learned  by  experience  what  is  injur- 
ious and  what  is  beneficial  to  our  well-being,  and 
so  have  inherited  instinctive  tendencies,  through 
the  belief  of  the  altruist,  that  to  do  wrong  brings 
pain,  and  to  do  right  brings  happiness,  up  to  the 
Christian  conviction,  that  conscience  is  the  cate- 
gorical imperative  of  God  warning,  and  advising 
us  to  do  right  in  spite  of  bodily  misfortune  and 
distress.  As  recipients  of  the  revelation  of  the 
Christ  we  believe  conscience  in  itself  to  be  absolute ; 
that  it  is  only  relative  in  relation  to  ourselves,  and 
the  present  conception  of  morality.  Right  is  ever- 
lastingly right,  and  wrong  is  everlastingly  wrong. 

The  trouble  is  that  we  are  prone  to  drug  con- 
science. Many  people  have  the  morphine  habit 
in  connection  with  conscience.  The  conscience  sur- 
face is  pricked  all  over  with  injections,  and  pre- 
sents a  deplorable  sight  to  the  practiced  eye.  We 
have  a  social  conscience ;  we  have  a  club  conscience ; 
we  have  a  Sunday  and  a  Monday  conscience;  we 
have  a  business  conscience ;  we  have  a  domestic 
conscience ;  we  have  a  man  and  a  woman  conscience ; 


THE  OPENED  BOOKS  93 

we  have  a  professional  conscience.  We  are  play- 
ing fast  and  loose,  hide  and  seek,  with  conscience 
proper.  We  adjust  conscience  to  our  deeds,  rather 
than  our  deeds  to  conscience,  and,  in  so  doing,  we 
are  overcome  with  the  exhilaration  of  our  own  in- 
genuity. The  real  conscience,  however,  is  there  all 
the  time;  it  is  as  indestructible  as  God,  for  it  is 
God.  And,  when  the  shams  of  earth  are  lifted  off, 
and  the  clouds  of  time  have  rolled  away,  there,  in 
the  presence  of  the  Great  Judge,  will  be  evidenced 
the  true  conscience,  shorn  of  all  the  subterfuges  of 
our  worldly  deliriums.  We  shall  see  ourselves  as 
we  really  are,  and  we  shall  be  kno^vn  even  as  we 
are  known. 

A  solemn  thought  that !  ^'Who  may  abide  the 
day  of  His  coming,  and  who  shall  stand  when  He 
appeareth  ?"  Respect  your  conscience  more  than 
you  respect  your  life,  for  it  is  your  life  for  time 
and  for  eternity.  When  it  whispers  take  your 
shoes  from  off  your  feet,  for  the  place  wherein  you 
stand  is  Holy  Ground.  The  breath  of  God  is  blow- 
ing across  the  room,  or  rushing  along  the  highways. 
Make  your  obeisance  before  conscience  as  you  would 
before  the  visible  Presence  of  Jesus  Christ.  You 
would  not  compose  a  farce  upon  God.  Then,  do 
not  mock  conscience.  It  is  one  of  the  Books,  and 
a  large  Book,  to  be  opened  upon  the  day  of  the 
Great  Assize. 

(3)   There  is  the  Book  of  Privilege:    This  is  a 


94  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

bulky  volume,  and  much  that  is  written  in  it  is  also 
incorporated  in  the  two  previous  books  of  memory 
and  conscience,  but  it  contains  original  matter  of 
its  own. 

We  are  living  in  a  Christian  country,  in  the 
midst  of  a  Christian  civilization.  We  have  passed 
the  days  of  the  Ptolemies,  and  the  Pharaohs,  of 
the  Caliphs  and  the  Caesars,  of  the  Moors  and  the 
Huns,  of  Frederick  the  Great  and  ^N'apoleon  the 
First.  Upon  us  the  light  of  the  world  is  shining. 
Ancient  Pagandom  and  modern  heathendom  are 
outside  the  pale  of  our  individual  and  parochial 
boundaries.  We  have  been  admitted  into  the  Fel- 
lowship of  Christ's  Body,  and  we  know  in  whom 
we  have  believed.  We  are  surrounded  by,  and  are 
breathing,  the  atmosphere  of  Privilege. 

Now,  privilege  carries  with  it  awe-inspiring 
responsibilities.  Every  increase  in  knowledge 
brings  in  its  train  corresponding  obligations.  Bet- 
ter, far  better,  to  be  without  the  revelation  of  Jesus 
in  life,  and  the  hope  of  Jesus  in  death,  than  to  be  a 
professing  Christian  in  the  full  radiance  of  the 
acknowledged  gospel  and  fall  short  of  the  expression 
of  our  convictions. 

There  is  the  chapter  in  the  book  of  privilege 
about  sacraments.  Does  it  contain  an  account  of 
Baptism,  and  Confirmation,  and  the  Holy  Com- 
munion systematically  received  ? 

There  is  the  chapter  upon  church  attendance. 


THE  OPENED  BOOKS  95 

Are  the  entries  numerous,  and  regular,  or  are  they 
interpolated  with  remarks  about  the  weather? 
With  some  of  us  there  must  be  many  blank  spaces ! 

There  is  the  chapter  upon  brotherliness.  Is  it 
illustrated  with  photographs  of  the  houses  of  the 
poor  with  the  figure  of  ourselves  in  bold  relief 
against  the  dilapidated  furniture  ? 

How  about  all  the  chapters  in  the  book  of 
privilege  ?  Poor  reading,  some  of  it,  I  warrant ! 
Miserable  stuff,  some  of  it.  Much  "padding", 
and  the  "purple  patches"  few  and  far  between. 
Enough  to  send  the  watchful  devil  to  sleep  in  its 
wearisome  monotony ! 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  whosoever 
hath  sinned  against  Me,  him  will  I  blot  out  of  My 
book."  We  are  writing  in  our  own  book,  which  is, 
in  truth,  God's  book — God's  book  of  privilege.  It 
behooves  us  to  live  up  to  our  advantages. 

These,  then,  are  the  hooks:  Volume  1,  Memory; 
Volume  2,  Conscience;  Volume  3,  Privilege. 

Upon  the  contents  of  these  books  we  shall  be 
judged,  aye,  we  shall  judge  ourselves. 

There  is  a  judgment  day.  Shall  the  judge 
claim  us  as  his  children ;  shall  He  welcome  us  as 
His  servants  ?  The  answer  depends  entirely  upon 
ourselves,  upon  the  quality  of  the  writing  in  each 
one  of  our  books. 

"And  I  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand 
before  God ;  and  the  hooks  were  opened." 


A  PREGNANT  SAYING 
St.  Mark  14:7.     "Me  ye  have  not  always." 

THE  pregnant  saying  is  the  word  of  Jesus :  "Me 
ye  have  not  always." 
The  context  is  familiar.  The  Master  is  sitting 
at  meat  in  the  house  of  a  prominent  citizen  of  the 
community  in  which  so  many  of  His  mighty  deeds 
were  done ;  sharing  in  the  hospitality  of  the  hour, 
and  showing  himself  to  be  thoroughly  human  in 
His  love  of  convivial  comradeship ;  when  a  woman 
of  notorious  character,  having  evaded  the  vigilance 
of  the  servants  of  the  establishment,  enters  the  room 
unannounced,  and  rushing  to  His  side  breaks  a  box 
of  precious  ointment  which  she  carries  with  her, 
and  pours  the  fumous  contents  upon  His  blessed 
feet ;  those  feet  which  were  ever  busy  in  the  service 
of  the  needy,  and  the  dispossessed.  The  guests  at 
the  dinner  are  astonished,  as  well  they  might  be,  for 
the  interruption  is  unconventional  to  a  degree,  and 
bewildering  in  its  suddenness.  The  Disciples  present 
are  overcome  with  astonishment,  and  from  one  of 


A  PREGNANT  SAYING  97 

their  number  there  bursts  forth  the  indignant,  and 
unpremeditated  protest,  "What  a  useless  and  un- 
necessary waste.  This  ointment  might  have  been 
sold  for  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  the  proceeds 
distributed  among  the  poor." 

What  is  the  attitude  of  Jesus  toward  the  occur- 
rence ?  Will  He  not  participate  in  the  universal 
disgust  that  the  proprieties  should  be  so  outraged, 
and  commend  the  utilitarian  observation  of  His 
esteemed  companion?  He  likes  things  to  be  done 
decently  and  in  order;  He  has  a  sense  of  fitness 
never  equalled  by  any  man  before  or  since ;  He  is 
"the  greatest  gentleman  who  ever  drew  the  breath 
of  life"  ;  and  the  unseemliness  of  the  incident  must 
have  lacerated  the  sensitiveness  of  His  quivering 
spirit.  Will  He  not  admonish  the  woman  for  an 
act  which  timely  in  itself  was  ill-timed  in  its  per- 
formance ?  Moreover :  He  loves  the  poor.  Their 
welfare  is  His  preeminent  concern.  To  their  alle- 
viation He  has  addressed  Himself  throughout  His 
previous  ministry.  Will  He  not,  then,  rebuke  the 
extravagance  of  Mary? 

Surely,  His  answer  to  the  interrogation  of  His 
Disciple,  an  answer  which  placed  the  whole  matter 
in  its  divine  perspective,  is  in  keeping  with  His 
originality,  with  that  inherent  capacity  for  surprise 
which  was  remarked  by  those  who  said,  "never  man 
spake  as  this  man."  "Leave  her  alone ;  it  is  a  beau- 
tiful work  that  she  hath  wrought  on  Me.     For  ye 


98  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

have  the  poor  with  you  all  the  time;  but  Me  ye 
have  not  always." 

You  see  the  force  of  Christ's  contention.  He 
had  not  forgotten  the  poor,  nor  estimated  super- 
ficially the  value  of  three  hundred  pence  as  related 
to  their  needs ;  but  the  poor  were  a  lasting  quantity 
and  quality,  and  might  be  assisted  at  any  time, 
whereas,  because  of  the  shortness  of  His  stay  on 
earth,  if  He  was  to  be  honored  at  all  it  must  be  now 
or  never. 

The  Master  is  here  announcing  a  great,  and  a 
universal  truth.  He  is  touching  upon  The  Relative 
Value  of  Opportunities.  He  says  in  effect — "the 
good  is  not  necessarily  the  best,  and  the  man  who 
would  do  homage  to  the  best  must  be  far-seeing 
enough,  and  sufficiently  brave,  to  rise  above 
the  temptation  of  doing  reverence  to  the  merely 
good." 

Life  is  possessed  of  more  than  economic  aspects, 
and  the  spirit  of  generosity  as  exhibited  under 
special  circumstances  is  altogether  beyond  compu- 
tation in  Dollars  and  Cents. 

Let  us  look  at  this  principle  in  our  own  lives, 
and  gather  the  full  force  of  its  application. 

The  Poor  and  Jesus.  There  are  privileges  that 
may  be  enjoyed  at  any  time;  commonplace  oppor- 
tunities that  recur  with  the  regularity  of  clock- 
work ;  but  there  are  other  privileges  that  are  sealed 
with  a  time  limit — exceptional  privileges  that  come 


A  PREGNANT  SAYING  99 

seldom,  and  from  the  necessity  of  the  case  must 
be  grasped  immediately  to  be  grasped  at  all.  The 
Poor!  Why;  they  besiege  us  on  every  side;  the 
confused  crying  of  their  need  oppresses  us  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave;  the  hands  with  itching 
palms  are  forever  uplifted  in  importunate  sup- 
plication. ^Vhenever  we  will  we  may  do  them 
good.  But,  Jesus  is  unique :  His  demands  are 
exceptional  demands ;  His  expectation  for  the  soul 
is  timed  to  the  moment ;  and  our  relation  to  Him, 
even  though  we  abide  in  Him  throughout  the  years, 
is  critical  in  its  immanency. 

What  are  some  of  our  exceptional  opportuni- 
ties ?  (1)  Opportunities  of  Getting  Good.  There 
is  Sunday.  We  treat  Sunday  lightly ;  do  we  not  ? 
In  the  reaction  from  the  puritanical  Sunday  of 
our  forefathers  we  have  come  to  play  fast  and 
loose  with  the  sanctity  of  The  Lord's  Day.  The 
fact  remains,  however,  that  Sunday  is,  in  the  soul's 
life,  an  exceptional  opportunity.  It  is  propor- 
tioned to  the  sum  total  of  the  years  in  the  ratio 
of  one  to  seven.  We  may  be  the  better  or  the 
worse  for  the  privileges  which  Sunday  has  to  offer. 
It  may  bless  us,  or  damn  us,  fifty-two  times  in  the 
course  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days.  The 
week-days  we  have  ever  with  us ;  but  Sunday  we 
have  not  always.  The  office  from  ]\Ionday  morn- 
ing to  Saturday  night,  and  the  House  of  God  on 
Sundav.     Is  that  too  much  to  ask  ?     Is  that  too 


100  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

much  time  to  give,  and  overaiuch  attention  to  pay, 
to  the  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow  ? 

There  is  Vacation  Time.  To  all  of  us  who 
work  for  a  livelihood,  and  who  employ  rejoicingly 
the  talents  that  God  has  given  us,  the  season  of 
vacation  is  short  as  compared  with  the  season  of 
occupation.  Two,  or  three,  or  six  weeks  a  year  as 
against  fifty,  or  forty-nine,  or  forty-six  weeks  a 
year.  Work  we  have  ever  with  us;  but  holidays 
we  have  not  always.  Is  the  annual  vacation  period 
a  period  of  meditation  as  well  as  a  period  of  rest  ? 
Is  it,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  "a  desert 
place" ;  a  place  where  we  may  recreate  our  spir- 
itual vitality,  and  adjust  the  horizon  of  our  relig- 
ious thought  ?  Does  it  bring  us  any  nearer,  appre- 
ciably nearer,  the  God  of  the  mountain  and  the 
valley  and  the  sea  ?  "Who  were  you  with  this 
summer,"  said  one  to  another.  "I  went  away 
alone;  but  I  came  back  with  Jesus  Christ,"  was 
the  answer. 

There  is  Travel.  Most  of  us  live  in  one  place 
most  of  the  time.  It  is  unusual  for  us  to  shake  off 
the  dust  of  home,  and  to  see  new  scenes  and  faces. 
We  tread  the  same  streets  from  month's  end  to 
month's  end;  meet  the  same  people;  and  do  the 
same  old  things  at  the  same  old  time  in  the  same 
old  way.  ISTow  and  then,  however,  we  board  the 
train,  and  are  shot  into  new  environments;  ex- 
changing temporarily  the  community  for  the  world, 


A  PREGNANT  SAYING  101 

and  the  familiar  for  the  unknowTi.  What  do 
we  make  of  these  rare  opportunities  ?  We  may  be 
among  those  who  would  read  a  novel  whilst  the 
car  in  which  they  sit  is  spanning  an  Alpine  gorge ; 
who  think  more  of  a  comfortable  hotel  than  they 
do  of  a  brilliant  sunset;  and  who  are  forever  con- 
trasting the  new  with  the  old,  to  the  relative  depre- 
ciation of  the  former.  Locality  we  have  ever  with 
us;  but  the  universe  we  have  not  always.  It  is 
demeaning  to  speak  of  dollars  when  romance  is  at 
our  door,  and  three  hundred  pence  is  an  insult 
when  nature  would  work  her  wonderful  work  upon 
our  impoverished  soul ! 

Yes,  week-days,  and  workdays,  and  common 
sights  and  common  sounds,  will  come  again;  they 
are  forever  coming  again,  for  they  have  the  habit 
of  return;  "the  poor  we  have  always  with  us" ;  but 
to  him,  or  to  her,  who  has  ears  to  hear  every  unusual 
privilege,  Sunday  and  holiday,  and  travel,  ring 
out  the  clarion  reminder,  "Me  ye  have  not  always." 

What  are  some  of  our  exceptional  opportuni- 
ties ?  (2)  Opportunities  of  Doing  Good.  There 
is  the  Home.  The  home  is,  for  each  of  us,  a 
transient  institution.  In  the  home,  of  all  places, 
it  is  too  late  to  break  the  alabaster  box  of  spikenard 
when  the  loved  one  is  in  his  grave!  We  are  apt 
to  forget — as  the  usual  day  runs  its  usual  round — 
the  inestimable  privilege  of  living  in  intimate  com- 
munion with  those  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls. 


102  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

whom  of  all  men  and  Avomen,  boys  and  girls,  in  all 
the  world  we  love  the  best ;  the  members  of  our  own 
household.  The  husband,  and  the  wife,  and  the 
children;  perhaps,  an  aged  father,  and  a  mother 
with  silvered  hair ;  here  thev  are,  differentiated 
with  us  from  all  the  world,  resident  under  the  same 
roof,  participators  in  the  same  joys  and  sorrows, 
keepers  of  the  same  secrets,  sharers  of  the  same 
honor,  or  dishonor,  and  worshippers  of  the  same 
household  gods.  We  are  kind  to  one  another — 
God  gTant  that  we  may  never  have  the  unavailing 
remorse,  the  age-long  regret,  of  harsh  and  brutal 
treatment — but  are  we  kind  enough ;  as  kind  as 
Christ;  as  affectionate  and  as  tender  as  Jesus,  Son 
of  Mary  ? 

It  is  right  and  natural  that  we  should  have  our 
friends  outside  the  family  circle.  Only  through 
such  relationships  in  the  outer  world  may  we 
achieve  the  stature  of  our  personal  possibilities. 
We  may  not  deny  the  fact  that  sometimes  ''friends 
may  be  more  than  my  brothers  are  to  me."  But, 
the  home  incorporates  the  citadel  of  our  heart's 
affection ;  it  is  the  arena  of  our  most  sacred  inti- 
macies ;  and  there  is  something  awe-inspiring  about 
the  swiftness  with  which  its  connections  may  be 
sundered.  The  outside  world  we  have  ever  with 
us ;  but  home  we  have  not  always.  In  a  few  years, 
or  in  a  tragic  moment,  the  seeming  permanency  of 
the  home  dissolves,  and  the  love-tinged  habits  of 


A  PREGNANT  SAYING  103 

yesterday  are  only  seen  through  scalding  tears. 
The  faces  of  friends  and  acquaintances  may  be 
viewed  at  any  time,  but  the  well-known  and  dearly- 
loved  faces  of  the  fireside  are  not  viewed  forever. 
The  man  called  by  professional  engagement  jour- 
neys into  a  distant  city ;  his  heart  is  light,  and  he 
expects  on  his  return  to  find  things  as  they  have 
ever  been ;  but  he  is  recalled  by  fatal  telegram,  and 
when  he  enters  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  home 
his  mother  is  resting  in  her  last  long  sleep.  How 
he  wishes  that  he  had  ''worked  a  good  work"  upon 
her  whilst  he  had  the  opportunity !  He  would 
break  the  costliest  alabaster  box  a  thousand  times 
for  her  dear  sake.  But  now  she  lies  with  tired  feet 
toward  the  dawn,  and  the  lips  that  kissed  him  are 
forever  cold. 


"Me  ye  have  not  always."  Why,  in  God's 
Kame,  and  in  the  ISTame  of  Love,  do  we  take  so 
long  a  time  to  learn  this  simple  lesson  ?  Sooner, 
or  later,  every  home  crumbles  into  dust ;  sooner,  or 
later,  every  intimacy  blazes  into  ashes ;  sooner,  or 
later,  in  every  association,  sacred  and  profane,  we 
hold  in  our  trembling  hands  only  the  withered 
laurels  of  the  past,  the  wilted  flowers  of  the  glor- 
ious yesterdays.  Why  should  we  forget  that  our 
most  precious  privileges  are  ours  for  but  an  hour, 
and  that  life  at  its  longest  is  altogether  too  short 


104  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

for  strife,  or  self.  Over  all  things  human,  dimly 
at  first  and  achieving  definiteness  as  the  years  go 
on,  there  is  inscribed  the  word,  Ichabod — the  glory 
hath  departed.  Oh,  whilst  we  possess  our  special 
privileges  of  giving  and  receiving ;  e'er  the  golden 
bowl  is  broken  at  the  fountain  and  the  silver  cord 
is  loosed ;  and  whilst  the  voice  still  speaks  that  one 
day  shall  be  silent,  ''let  us  do  good  unto  all  men ; 
but  especially  unto  them  that  are  the  household  of 
Faith."  The  time  is  ever  here  to  break  our  Box 
of  Costly  Ointment,  and  so  to  work  a  good  work 
upon  men  and  things;  for  the  shades  of  night 
descend  when  we  may  work  for  men  and  things,  at 
least  particular  men  and  special  things,  no  more. 
"Me,"  whatever  the  "Me"  may  be,  "ye  have  not 
always." 


THE  PRODIGAL  SON 
St.  Luke  15:  11-25 

OUR  Blessed  Lord  was  essentially  parabolic  in 
His  teaching.  He  emj)lojed  the  outward  and 
familiar  sign  to  convey  the  inward  and  spiritual 
significance.  He  used  the  common  sights  and  ex- 
periences of  life  as  a  vast  ritual  through  which 
the  eternal  ever  shines. 

Of  all  His  parables  the  Parable  of  The  Prodigal 
Son  is  the  pearl.  It  has  the  note  of  immortality. 
It  is  true  for  all  time,  true  to  life  and  character. 
It  commends  itself  to  the  taste  of  all.  As  a  piece  of 
literature,  in  its  majestic  simplicity,  in  its  capac- 
ity of  erecting  an  indelible  portrait  upon  the  lens 
of  the  imagination,  it  is  authoritatively  stated  to  be 
without  competition  in  the  languages  of  the  world. 
As  an  appeal  to  the  heart  of  man  it  has  been  in 
the  record  of  Christianity  responsible  for  the  con- 
version of  uncounted  hosts  of  sinners. 

This  chapter,  the  Fifteenth  of  St.  Luke,  records 
three  parables:     The  Lost  Coin,  the  Lost  Sheep, 


106  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

and  The  Lost  Son.  The  first  two  represent  God 
seeking  the  sinner.  The  last  represents  man  seek- 
ing God.  This  is  ever  the  process  in  conversion, 
be  conversion  instantaneous  or  gTadual.  Conver- 
sion is  twofold.  There  is  the  human  impulse, 
and  the  divine  response;  there  is  the  call  of  God, 
and  the  answer  of  man. 

We  may  not  analyze  the  phenomenon.  It  defies 
definition.  It  is  rebellious  of  regulation.  But, 
of  this  we  may  be  assured — there  must  be  the  two 
elements :  the  coming  of  the  creature,  and  the  bring- 
ing of  the  Creator;  the  drawing  of  the  Creator, 
and  the  compliance  of  the  creature. 

Blindness  to  this  fact  has  resulted  in  the  great 
past  severance  of  Protestant  Christianity.  If  you 
take  the  parables  of  The  Lost  Coin  and  The  Lost 
Sheep,  and  exclude  The  Parable  of  The  Prodigal 
Son,  you  have  ultra  Calvinism,  responsibility  thrust 
solely  upon  the  side  of  God.  If  you  take  the 
Parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  eliminate  the 
parables  of  The  Lost  Coin  and  The  Lost  Sheep, 
you  have  ultra  arminianism,  the  entire  dependence 
rests  upon  man.  Either  attitude  by  itself  is  wrong ; 
the  right  attitude  is  only  found  in  the  union  of 
the  two. 

Let  us  seek  the  Spiritual  Interpretation  of  the 
Story:  We  have  the  picture  of  a  young  man  leav- 
ing home.  He  comes  to  his  father  with  the  re- 
quest, "Give  me  the  portion  of  goods  that  belongs 


THE  PRODIGAL  SON  107 

to  me;  I  would  be  gone  into  the  world."  It  is  a 
strange  request,  and  significant.  The  son  has  evi- 
dently grown  tired  of  the  restraints  of  family 
life.  He  has  become  envious  of  discipline.  He 
chafes  at  parental  control.  The  call  of  a  seemingly 
wider  vitality  is  sounding  in  his  ears.  He  is  weary 
of  doing  as  he  is  bid,  and  would  fain  begin  to  do 
as  he  pleases.  It  is  a  familiar  picture,  and  there 
are  many  who  in  retrospect  may  see  the  well-worn 
colors  upon  the  canvas  of  their  early  years. 

This  young  man's  case,  however,  is  not  only 
typical,  it  is  exaggerated.  For  some  time  he  had 
been  making  things  unpleasant  at  home.  His 
temper  was  not  of  the  best.  He  was  surly,  self- 
opinionated,  selfish.  As  the  days  pass,  so  far  as 
affection  for  his  father  is  concerned,  he  becomes 
a  son  in  name  only.  He  makes  this  brutal  request 
— "Give  me  the  money  that  belongs  to  me,  and  let 
me  go."  He  could  not  even  wait  until  the  obvious 
occurred,  and  his  father  died.  He  is  cruel  in  his 
impetuosity.     Think  of  the  feelings  of  his  father ! 

'Now,  you  will  notice  that  the  father  had  every 
right  to  refuse  the  request.  In  North  America, 
when  a  parent  dies,  he  ordinarily  divides  his  wealth 
equally  among  his  offspring.  In  England,  in  fact 
or  practice,  there  is  the  law  of  Primogeniture — the 
eldest  son  receives  all,  or  most,  of  his  father's 
wealth.  But,  among  the  Jews  it  was  customary 
to  leave  two-thirds  to  the  elder  son,  and  one-third 


108  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

to  the  younger,  in  families  consisting  of  two  boys. 
If,  then,  this  father  had  refused  his  son's  impor- 
tunate demand  the  younger  son  had  had  no  legi- 
timate cause  of  complaint,  for  his  one-third  was 
not  legally  due  until  his  father's  death. 

But,  the  father  consented,  and  gave  to  the 
boy  his  expected  inheritance.  Why  did  he  do 
so?  Surely,  because,  realizing  the  intractability 
of  the  boy's  temperament,  and  appreciating  the 
uselessness  of  continued  pleading,  he  determined 
to  let  his  son  learn  by  sad  experience  that  the  way 
of  the  transgressor  is  hard.  There  are  some  youths 
who  are  altogether  incorrigible,  and  the  only  school 
to  teach  them  common  sense  is  the  rough  Academy 
of  the  World. 

Now,  what,  so  far,  is  the  spiritual  significance 
of  the  story?  It  is  the  human  family  epitomized. 
The  younger  brother  is  humanity,  and  the  father 
is  God.  The  root  of  sin,  whatever  be  the  forms  in 
which  it  expresses  itself,  is  the  wish  to  be  free  of 
the  authority  of  God.  The  source  of  evil  is  sel- 
fishness, separation  from  God  and  our  fellow-men. 
In  the  Prodigal  we  have  an  illustration  of  our 
own  wilful  selection  of  destiny.  When  the  human 
will  sets  itself  in  opposition  to  the  divine  will,  it 
says  in  effect,  "Give  me  the  portion  of  goods  that 
belong  to  me,  and  let  me  pursue  my  own  prefer- 
ences." Yes;  let  us  get  beyond  the  literal,  and 
grasp  the  figurative  import  of  the  parable.     Only 


THE  PRODIGAL  SON  109 

on  the  outside  is  it  the  story  of  an  earthly  child 
who  outraged  an  earthly  parent.  On  the  inside 
it  is  the  lasting  photograph  of  our  culpable  defiance 
of  the  prerogatives  of  God.  We  turn  our  backs 
upon  duty,  deeming  ourselves  sufficient  unto  our- 
selves, and  so  we  sin.  We  follow  our  own  sweet 
pleasure,  and  so  we  wound  inexpressibly  a  Loving 
Father's  Heart.  This  transgression  of  the  Prodigal 
is  our  transgression,  and  our  cry  must  be  "God  be 
merciful  unto  me  a  sinner." 

So  much  for  the  hoy  at  home;  let  us  follow  his 
career  in  the  world:  "He  wasted  his  substance  in 
riotous  living."  He  went  out  with  money  in  his 
pocket  to  have  his  swill  of  life.  He  possessed  a 
fascinating  personality.  He  was  one  of  those  char- 
acters who  reserve  all  their  generosities  for  society, 
and  all  their  boorishness  for  the  family  circle. 
With  a  free  hand  he  scatters  his  favors  upon  all 
with  whom  he  comes  in  contact,  and  so  becomes  the 
center  of  an  admiring  group  of  companions.  A 
spendthrift  in  the  days  of  his  affluence  does  not  have 
to  go  far  to  seek  his  friends.  He  is  a  magnet  for 
impecunious  parasites,  and  gathers  them  from  the 
four  corners  of  his  environment,  even  as  a  flame 
attracts  its  multitudinous  moths.  He  is  "hail 
fellow,  well  met,"  and  is  the  subject  of  flattering 
attentions  from  other  youths  more  celebrated  for 
their  excesses  than  for  their  discriminations. 
What  a  time  he  has!     The  wine  flows  freely,  the 


no     THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

nights  are  filled  with  revelry,  and  the  days  succeed 
each  other  in  kaleidoscopic  dissipations. 

It  is  the  picture  of  the  "fast"  young  man,  the 
man  about  town,  old  or  young,  the  man  who,  in 
common  parlance,  "sows  his  wild  oats."  There 
have  been,  and  there  are,  analogous  cases  in  every 
community,  and  there  will  be  such  cases  until  age 
comes  to  regard  such  behavior  as  criminal,  and 
youth  has  decried  such  bestiality  as  detrimental  in 
the  production  of  a  man.  There  is  such  a  thing  as 
the  rose  losing  its  fragrance,  and  sin  vitiates  both 
mind  and  body.  A  moment  lost  is  a  moment  lost 
forever,  and  no  one  may  look  for  the  second  time 
into  the  weeping  face  of  a  vanished  hour. 

Now,  we  reach  another  stage.  The  Crisis 
comes:  "And  when  he  had  spent  all,  there  arose 
a  mighty  famine  in  that  land,  and  he  began  to  be  in 
want."  The  day  arrived  when  he  had  squandered 
all  his  patrimony,  when  his  purse  was  conspicuous 
for  its  emptiness,  and  when,  through  the  inevitable 
operation  of  his  foolishness,  he  was  in  urgent  need. 
He  was  bankrupt  not  only  in  pecuniary  resources, 
but  in  health  and  morals  as  well.  He  was  a  phys- 
ical, a  financial,  and  a  spiritual  wreck.  It  is  a 
pathetic  denouement,  and  the  pathos  is  emphasized 
through  his  isolation.  Where  are  now  the  friends 
of  his  prodigality?  They  have  fallen  away  from 
him  one  by  one.  They  pass  him  by  upon  the  street. 
Flattery  has  given  way  to  vituperative  comment. 


THE  PRODIGAL  SON  111 

He  is  openly  sneered  at  as  a  short-sighted  fool. 

It  is  always  thus  with  the  boon  companions  of  a 
sinful  past.  In  the  days  of  our  monetary  helpless- 
ness they  flee  from  us  as  they  would  the  plague. 
When  the  day  is  fair  the  motes  disport  themselves 
in  the  rstys  of  the  warming  sun,  but  when  the  dark- 
ness gathers,  and  the  desolation  of  night  descends, 
the  gaudy  motes  are  nowhere  to  be  seen.  There 
is  no  sadder  commentary  upon  sin  than  the  way  in 
which  its  votaries  wi'ing  the  sinner  dry,  and  leave 
the  pauperized  to  shift  for  himself.  "Bleed  the 
fool,  and  so  through  the  process  of  blood-letting 
cleave  even  as  the  leech,  but  when  the  veins  are 
empty  cast  the  corpse  aside."  That  is  the  motto 
of  the  Devil  and  all  his  adherents.  "There  arose 
a  mighty  famine  in  that  land."  It  is  always  so. 
ISTot  only  is  the  land  of  iniquity  a  far-off  land,  but 
it  is  an  arid  and  a  sterile  land.  There  is  famine 
of  the  heart — want  of  love.  There  is  famine  of 
the  soul — want  of  peace.  There  is  famine  of  the 
mind — want  of  hope.  Love,  peace,  hope,  we  leave 
them  all  behind  us  when  we  deliberately  forsake  our 
Father's  House,  and  journey  into  the  distant  coun- 
try of  self-aggrandizement. 

This  is  true  not  merel}'  of  the  "fast"  young 
man,  and  the  reckless  young  woman.  It  is  true  of 
all,  however  respectable  and  moral  they  may  happen 
to  be,  who  have  turned  their  backs  upon  the  urgency 
of  God's  Friendship,  and  are  living  in  the  world 


112  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

for  the  world  alone.  The  heart  hungers,  the  soul 
thirsts,  and  the  hunger  is  for  the  Bread  of  Life, 
and  the  thirst  is  for  "the  living  waters."  There 
is  a  mighty  famine  in  the  land  of  personality. 
If  we  have  all  things,  but  lack  the  one  thing  need- 
ful, how  much,  as  a  question  of  soul  arithmetic, 
have  we?  Nothing,  aye,  and  less  than  nothing. 
A  bestial  life  is  fit  for  a  beast,  but  it  cannot  begin 
to  satisfy  a  man.  The  Far-OfF  Land  is  ever  the 
Land  of  Famine,  and  many  there  be  who  dwell 
therein. 

What  did  the  Prodigal  do?  "He  went  and 
joined  himself  to  one  of  the  citizens  of  that  country, 
and  he  sent  him  into  his  fields  to  feed  swine." 
A  Jew  feeding  swine !  The  degradation  is  incon- 
ceivable to  a  Gentile  mind.  Is  this  our  fine  young 
man,  the  open-handed  gentleman,  the  giddy  dis- 
tributor of  another's  wealth,  whose  advent  into  the 
community  had  created  such  a  stir  in  the  circles 
of  polite  society,  dazzling  the  men,  and  fluttering 
the  maidens'  hearts  ?  Romance  is  over,  and  the 
hideous  facts  appear.  The  froth  has  been  blown 
from  the  wine  cup,  and  the  bottom  of  the  chalice 
of  iniquity  shines  clear.  The  tinsel  has  been  torn 
to  shreds,  and  the  gilt  reveals  its  tawdriness.  The 
cesspool  gives  up  its  dead,  and  upon  its  top  there 
floats  harlotry,  strangled  innocence,  disillusion- 
ment, glaring  memories,  and  vanished  oppor- 
tunities. 


THE  PRODIGAL  SON  113 

Have  you  ever  fed  the  swine  ?  Have  you  ever 
sounded  the  deeps  of  a  life  lived  apart  from  God  ? 
Have  you  measured  the  Valley  of  Pleasure,  and 
reached  the  limits  of  sensual  gratification  ?  If 
so,  then,  you  realize  that  with  this  young  man  the 
time  of  reaction  had  come.  The  father's  policy, 
the  only  policy  possible  under  the  circumstances, 
had  reached  its  justification,  and  the  Prodigal  is 
at  last  aware  of  the  fact  that  "the  wages  of  sin 
is  death." 

So  we  come  to  the  sons  repentance,  and  his 
return:  "But  when  he  came  to  himself  he  said." 
Then  he  had  been  beside  himself  before  ?  His  con- 
duct had  been  irrational  and  insane  ?  It  had  not 
been  natural  for  him  to  sow  his  wild  oats  ?  It  had 
not  been  normal  for  the  youth  to  have  his  fling? 
He  said  to  himself,  "I  have  been  a  fool,  a  madman. 
I  had  the  best  of  homes,  the  best  of  fathers,  and  I 
forfeited  happiness  for  a  chimera,  peace  for  the 
slough  of  sensuality.  Why,  there  are  hirelings  in 
my  father's  house  who  are  better  off  than  I  am, 
and  who  would  not  for  the  world  change  their 
security  of  service  for  my  profligate  liberty.  I 
mil  arise  and  go  to  my  father,  and  say  unto  him. 
Father  I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and  before 
thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son ; 
make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants." 

N'ow,  notice  that  the  mere  resolution  did  not 
save  the  unhappy  man.     The  way  to  hell  may  be 


114  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

paved  with  good  resolutions.  We  have  made  a 
thousand  good  resolutions — where  are  they  now  ? 
A  man  is  not  redeemed  by  a  good  resolution.  Action 
alone  spells  redemption.  The  Prodigal  did  not 
think  to  himself,  "some  day  I  will  present  myself 
at  the  homestead  and  take  them  all  by  surprise." 
He  did  not  commune  within  himself  thus,  "I  must 
wait  until  I  exchange  these  rags  for  more  becoming 
raiment,  else  my  fastidious  brother  will  laugh  at 
me."  There  was  no  some  day;  there  was  no  wait- 
ing.   It  was  "I  ivill  arise  and  go,"  and  he  went. 

l^otice  further  the  words,  "I  have  sinned." 
No  puppy  phrases  now.  Not,  "I  have  been  fast" 
— "I  have  been  a  trifle  wild."  He  is  absolutely 
frank,  and  indulges  in  no  euphemisms.  "Father, 
I  have  sinned".  This,  is  ever  the  mark  of 
sincere  repentance.  We  speak  no  longer  of  "pre- 
destination," of  "heredity,"  of  "environment,"  of 
"human  nature."  We  do  not  shift  the  responsi- 
bility upon  others.  We  call  a  spade  a  spade,  and 
lay  the  deformity  at  our  own  door.  There  is  no 
juggling  with  anaemic  phrases.  We  cry  from  the 
depths  of  a  heart  convinced,  and  convicted,  "I  have 
sinned."  The  true  penitent  places  the  blame  upon 
self  alone.  "7  have  sinned  against  heaven  and 
before  thee."  The  consciousness  of  guilt  against 
God  is  placed  first,  the  consciousness  of  guilt  against 
the  earthly  parent  comes  last.  This  is  the  right 
order.    All  sin  is  sin  against  God.    I  sin  against  my 


THE  PRODIGAL  SON  115 

neighbor — that  is  sin  against  God.  I  sin  against 
myself — that  is  sin  against  God.  I  am  drunken,  I 
am  impure,  I  am  envious,  I  am  dishonest,  I  am 
selfish.  Then  against  God  I  am  drunken,  impure, 
envious,  dishonest,  selfish.  Let  there  be  no  mis- 
conception here.  The  first  four  and  the  last  six 
of  the  Ten  Commandments  are  bound  indissolubly 
together. 

"And  he  arose,  and  came  to  his  father."  How 
was  he  received  ?  He  did  not  deserve  so  much  as  a 
servant's  place.  He  had  broken  his  father's  heart, 
and  well  night  brought  down  his  gray  hairs  in  sor- 
row to  the  grave.  The  father  had  discharged  his 
obligation  when  at  his  son's  request  he  had  divided 
with  him  his  inheritance. 

But  there  is  one  thing  that  we  may  count  upon 
— there  is  one  thing  we  may  bank  upon — and  that 
is  a  father's  heart. 

How  gracious  was  the  welcome :  "But  when  he 
was  yet  a  great  way  off,  his  father  saw  him,  and 
had  compassion,  and  ran,  and  fell  on  his  neck,  and 
kissed  him." — "Bring  forth  the  best  robe,  and  ptit 
it  on  him,  and  put  a  ring  on  his  hand,  and  shoes  on 
his  feet,  and  bring  hither  the  fatted  calf  and  kill 
it ;  and  let  us  eat,  and  be  merry ;  for  this  my  son  was 
dead  and  is  alive  again;  was  lost  and  is  found. 
And  they  began  to  be  merry." 

Verily,  "The  love  of  God  is  broader  than  the 
measure   of  man's  mind,   and   the   heart   of   the 


116  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Eternal  is  most  wonderfully  kind."  Verily, 
"There  is  more  joy  among  the  angels  of  God  over 
one  sinner  that  repenteth,  than  over  ninety  and 
nine  just  persons  who  need  no  repentance." 

The  Prodigal  is  "safe  home  at  last."  May  such 
safety,  for  time  and  for  eternity,  be  ours  in  the 
Arms  of  God. 


A  PATRIOTIC  SERMON  ON 
THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS 

Joshua  24:  2.      "Your   Fathers." 

np  HE  Golden  Age  is  still  before  us.     It  is,  con- 
■^     sciouslj  or  unconsciously,   the   great   attain- 
ment toward  which,  as  individuals  and  as  nations 
we  persistently,  and  forever  strive. 

"We  are  living,  we  are  dwelling,  in  a  grand  and  awful 
time ; 
In  an  age  on  ages  telling  to  be  living  is  sublime." 

The  greatest,  however,  is  yet  to  be,  and  the  lodestar 

of  all  human  effort  shines  as  a  beacon  light  in  the 

firmament  of  our  present  darkness.     The  Golden 

Age,  when  Christ  shall  reign  from  the  rivers  to  the 

ends  of  the  earth,  is  still  before  us. 

Obsessed  with  the  future,  however,  there  is  a 

duty  which  we  owe  to  the  past,   and  it  is  only 

through  our  loyalty  to  that  duty  that  the  future  in 

its  fulness  may  ultimately  be  achieved.     For  the 

past,  in  its  virtues,  in  its  conquests,  in  its  garnered 

fruitage,  in  its  wealth  of  thought,  and  its  richness 


118  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

of  experience,  is  a  necessary  equipment  for  the 
tasks  of  to-day,  and  an  essential  preparation  for 
the  apocalypse  of  to-morrow. 

Blessed  is  that  Nation,  whether  Hebrew  or 
American,  that  has  great  men  for  its  ancestors, 
whose  first  pages  are  charged  with  interest,  and 
whose  Fathers  were  men  of  God.  The  history  of 
such  a  ^Nation  will  send  a  thrill  of  inspiration 
through  the  body  politic  from  age  to  age,  and 
serve  to  guard  the  liberties,  the  principles,  and  the 
faith  of  unending  generations. 

It  is  well,  then,  at  such  a  time  as  this,  when 
Americanism  would  come  into  its  own,  and  come 
into  its  own  in  relation  to  its  obligations  to  human- 
ity, that  we  should  run  back  in  thought,  and  famil- 
iarize ourselves  with  the  nobility  of  character  and 
resolve  of  those  whom  we  may  justly  account  the 
Fathers  of  our  Country. 

It  has  been  said  that  in  its  possession  of  noble 
ancestry  the  American  Republic  is  like  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Israel.  Israel  has  Abraham,  who 
left  his  native  land  to  found  a  nation  for  God's  holy 
purposes.  So  America  has  the  Pilgrim  Fathers, 
who  left  their  native  land  for  precisely  the  same 
purpose.  They  took  possession  of  this  continent 
for  us,  and  they  sowed  the  seed  which  has  fruited 
into  the  boasted  institutions  of  our  well-loved 
Country.  They  left  us  a  free  Church,  and  a  free 
State,  and  a  system  of  free  schools.     They  left  us 


THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  119 

the  bejewelled  principle  which  we  have  more  or 
less  incarnated  in  working  form :  All  men  are  equal 
before  the  law.  The  glory  of  onr  ISTation  to-day  is, 
as  it  were,  the  Oak  Tree  which  has  sprung  from 
the  acorn  which  they  planted. 

"Your  Fathers,"  the  Pilgrim  Fathers !  Let  us 
glance  briefly  at  their  story,  and  apply  some  of  the 
lessons  that  issue  therefrom  to  the  needs  and  neces- 
sities of  the  present  day : 

The  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock  on  the 
21st  of  December,  in  the  year  1620.  To  know 
why  they  landed  there,  or  anywhere,  we  must  go 
back  and  familiarize  ourselves  with  certain  his- 
torical facts.  Henry  the  Eighth,  as  we  all  know, 
threw  off  his  allegiance  to  the  Roman  Pontiff,  and 
constituted  himself  the  head  of  the  Church  in 
his  own  land.  His  motives,  of  course,  were  con- 
temptible— at  any  rate  his  ostensible  motives — for 
they  were  impelled  by  the  fact  that  the  Pope  re- 
fused to  sanction  his  desired  divorce ;  but  the  step, 
however  bad,  was  overruled  for  good,  and  his  breach 
with  Rome  was  the  starting  point  of  better  things 
for  England  and  for  the  world.  Queen  Mary 
took  the  English  Church  back  into  allegiance 
with  Rome,  but  after  her  short-lived  ascendency 
Queen  Elizabeth  broke  again  with  all  foreign 
domination,  and  made  the  Church  of  England  free. 
Elizabeth  was  a  religious  tyrant.  She  made  her- 
self supreme  head  of  the  Church,  and  passed  laws 


120  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

to  the  effect  that  all  people  should  conform  to  her 
way  of  religious  thinking.  We  might  say  that  she 
established  censorship  over  the  opinions  of  her  sub- 
jects, and  constituted  herself  Sovereign  over  the 
English  conscience.  Taking  advantage  of  her  po- 
sition she  determined  to  create  religious  uniform- 

It  is  here  that  the  Pilgrims  come  in.  They 
could  not,  and  they  would  not,  conform  to  religious 
uniformity.  Their  reasons,  or  principles,  were 
threefold.  (1)  Christ  is  the  sole  Head  of  the 
Church,  and  it  is  presumption  and  usurpation  for 
any  man  or  woman,  for  any  human  being,  to  claim 
to  be  head  of  the  Church,  or  to  dictate  the  Creed, 
or  prescribe  the  policy  of  the  Church.  (2)  The 
Bible  is  the  sole  nile  of  faith  and  practice.  All 
the  Ordinances,  as  well  as  all  the  ornaments  of  the 
Church,  must  have  divine  sanction,  and  literal  war- 
rant in  the  Word  of  God.  (3)  The  Church  is  an 
independent  institution,  ruled  by  the  people  under 
God.  An  Established  Church  in  the  technical 
sense  is  a  violation  of  the  truth. 

Believing  all  this,  the  Pilgrims  perforce  with- 
drew from  the  fellowship  of  the  Established  Church 
of  England.  They  organized  churches  of  their 
own;  churches  where  they  preached  the  Truth  as 
they  understood  it.  The  result  of  this  withdrawal 
was  persecution  by  the  reigning  powers  in  the 
Church,  and  persecution  by  the  civil  government 


THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  121 

of  England.  Matters  became  so  unbearable,  even 
reaching  to  the  execution  of  three  men,  that  many 
individuals,  and  whole  congregations,  fled  to  Hol- 
land, where  religious  liberty  was  assured  for  all. 
'Now  the  story  narrows  itself,  and  the  fortunes 
of  one  congregation  claim  our  attention  exclusively. 
This  congregation  was  known  as  the  Mayflower 
church,  and  it  was  organized,  and  began  its  life 
in  Scrooby,  Nottinghamshire.  In  this  church 
were  men  destined  to  be  famous  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony.  There  was  William  Brewster,  the  Elder, 
and  the  leader  of  finance.  There  were  his  children, 
Patience,  and  Fear,  and  Love,  and  Wrestling — 
good  Bunyan  names!  There  was  William  Brad- 
ford, the  future  historian  of  the  church,  and  Gov- 
ernor of  Plymouth  Colony.  Under  persecution, 
this  congregation  retired  first  to  Amsterdam,  and 
thence  to  Leyden,  where  it  remained  some  twelve 
years.  After  this  there  came  the  embarkation  for 
America.  This  step  was  undertaken  for  the  fol- 
lowing reasons :  (1)  There  was  no  room  for  growth 
in  Holland,  and  there  was  the  well-founded  fear 
that  the  whole  enterprise  would  come  to  nothing. 
(2)  The  members  of  the  congregation  were  anxious 
about  their  children.  The  Sabbath  Day  was  not 
reverenced  at  Leyden,  and  there  was  the  danger 
that  the  young  people  should  become  corrupted  in 
a  godless  environment.  (3)  There  was  the  mis- 
sionary impulse;  the  burning  desire  to  make  the 


122  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Gospel  known  in  remote  parts  of  the  earth.  Actu- 
ated by  these  reasons  the  congregation  sailed  event- 
ually from  Plymouth  in  the  good  Ship  Mayflower 
for  the  distant  shores  of  America.  The  passenger 
list  comprised  one  hundred  and  two  souls.  A  small 
stock  to  give  birth  to  the  multitudinous  Mayflow- 
erians  of  to-day ! 

Just  imagine  what  that  passage  of  more  than 
nine  weeks  must  have  meant,  with  all  its  hard- 
ships, and  wanderings,  for  men,  and  women,  and 
children.  The  final  landing  was  made,  of  course, 
on  the  famous  rock,  and  not  a  large  rock  at  that, 
which  they  called  Plymouth,  in  honor  of  the  Eng- 
lish port  from  whence  they  had  sailed.  Moreover, 
the  sufferings  of  the  exiles  were  but  well  begun 
when  they  set  foot  upon  the  rugged  headlands  of 
the  Atlantic.  Sickness,  and  hunger,  and  cold,  and 
perils  from  savages  were  daily  experiences  borne 
with  true  Christian  fortitude.  Half  of  the  Colony 
died  during  the  first  year.  Like  the  heroes  of  olden 
time,  however,  they  held  on,  and  committed  them- 
selves and  their  ways  to  the  God  who  careth  for 
His  children  who  care  over  much  for  Him.  Ulti- 
mately a  better  future  opened,  and  there  began  the 
building  of  the  church,  and  the  building  of  the 
schoolhouse,  and  the  building  of  homes.  A  life 
commenced  which  opened  and  broadened  until  Ply- 
mouth Colony  found  confederation  in  the  confed- 
eration of  the  Colonies,  and  the  confederation  of 


THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  123 

the  Colonies  transformed  itself  into  the  Republic. 

ISTow,  what  are  some  of  the  lessons  from  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  that  we  may  read  and  apply  ? 

(1)  To  he  great  as  a  people,  and  to  solve  our 
national  difficulties  as  they  ought  to  he  solved,  we 
must  have  something  of  the  Pilgrims'  loyalty  to 
the  Bihle:  The  Pilgrims  gathered  their  principles 
from  the  Word  of  God ;  not  from  some  metaphys- 
ical pronouncement  issued  from  the  pen  of  some 
pragmatical  Philosopher.  It  is  the  Truth  that 
makes  men  free,  and  they  discovered  that  liberating 
truth  in  the  Library  that  stretches  from  Genesis  to 
Revelation. 

Milton  was  right  when  he  said,  "The  Bible 
doth  more  clearly  teach  the  solid  rules  of  civil 
government  than  all  the  eloquence  of  Greece  or 
Rome."  "There  is  no  Book  like  the  Bible,"  says 
Dr.  Gregg,  "to  inspire  liberty.  It  has  inspired 
all  the  liberty  that  has  found  embodiment  in  our 
national  life.  It  struck  Plymouth  Rock,  and 
immediately  that  rock  became  our  American 
Horeb  to  send  forth  throughout  the  generations  a 
perpetual  stream  of  blessing.  It  was  the  Bible 
that  inspired  the  heroes  of  '76.  It  was  the  Bible 
that  inspired  Patrick  Henry.  His  words,  'Give 
me  liberty,  or  give  me  death,'  were  not  original 
with  himself.  The  sentiment  was  a  Bible  senti- 
ment. Solomon  expressed  it  in  substance  when 
he  said,  '1  praise  the  dead  who  are  already  dead, 


124  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

and  who  have  escaped  human  woe,  more  than  ye 
living,  who  are  miserably  alive.'  Liberty  Loving 
Men  have  ever  been  Bible  Loving  Men.  The 
Lollards  in  England,  the  adherents  of  Luther  in 
Germany,  the  followers  of  Knox  in  Scotland,  the 
Huguenots  of  France,  the  friends  of  Zwingli  in 
Switzerland,  Cromwell  and  his  Ironsides — all  these 
were  lovers  of  the  Bible,  and  all  these  were  heroes 
in  liberty's  cause."  Only  as  we  are  true  to  the 
Book  of  the  Pilgrims,  the  Bible,  may  we  expect  to 
be  true  to,  and  to  carry  on,  the  Pilgrim's  Cause; 
for  the  atmosphere  of  the  Pilgrims'  Book  is  to  be 
found  in  our  National  Constitution,  in  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  and  finally  in  the  crown- 
ing glory  of  our  INation — the  Emancipation 
Proclamation. 

If  we  would  do  the  right  thing  as  men ;  if  we 
would  do  the  right  thing  as  citizens ;  if  we  would 
be  of  that  deposit  force  which  is  going  to  impel 
America  to  do  the  right  thing  as  a  I^ation  at  the 
present  time — ^we  must  be  readers  of,  and  not 
merely  readers  of  but  experts  in  the  Word  of  God. 

(2)  To  he  great  as  a  people  we  must  face  our 
difficulties  with  the  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  with 
which  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  faced  the  difficidties  of 
their  day  and  generation:  To  be  true  to  our 
Country,  in  foul  weather  as  well  as  in  fair,  is  the 
best  manner  in  which  we  may  honor  the  memory 
of  the  Fathers  of  our  Country.     The  best  patriot 


THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  125 

is  ever  he  who  gives  the  best  manhood  to  his 
Country.  What  we  need  preeminently  to-day  is 
grand  men  for  a  great  hour.  The  United  States 
calls  at  this  time  of  crisis  for  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands and  millions  of  men — real  men,  true  men, 
men  of  heart  as  well  as  of  mind,  above  all  men  of 
conscience  and  of  character.  There  is  no  long  and 
dreary  ocean's  voyage  before  us ;  there  is  no  endur- 
ance of  cold  and  of  hunger,  of  unrestricted  sickness 
and  overwhelming  death,  to  be  borne ;  there  is  no 
pioneer  work  of  a  material  kind  to  be  achieved ; 
but  there  are  difficulties  bounding  us  upon  every 
side;  difficulties  peculiar  to  our  present  circum- 
stances as  a  nation.  There  is  treason  abroad.  Yes ; 
Treason.  There  is  the  treason  of  a  cowardly  and 
self-seeking  prosperity,  which  keeps  still  silence, 
or  which  prates  in  mellifluous  polysyllables,  when 
patriotism  and  honor,  and  the  destruction  of  our 
fellow  citizens,  call  for  vindication  in  the  arena 
of  the  politics  of  the  world.  There  is  such  a  thing 
as  the  traitor  in  time  of  peace  as  well  as  the  traitor 
in  time  of  war,  and  such  a  traitor  should  be  shot 
— shot  with  the  cannon  of  universal  public  indig- 
nation, and  execration.  He  deserves  little  consid- 
eration of  mercy,  and  every  consideration  of  ful- 
some justice.  He  should  at  least  be  blackballed, 
and  be  buried  with  becoming  notoriety  in  everlast- 
ing oblivion. 

From  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  we  learn  this  lesson, 


126  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

and  it  is  written  in  letters  of  gold  so  that  all  may 
see;  For  the  furtherance  of  the  allied  cause  of 
God  and  of  our  Country  we  must  have  manhood. 
Men  are  needed,  and  men  are  needed  more  than 
principles.  Character  is  demanded,  and  character 
even  more  than  creed.  Only  so  may  we,  in  homely 
parlance,  "play  the  game,"  and  ceasing  from  ex- 
uberant speech  go  in,  go  in  fathoms  deep,  for  deeds. 
Let  us  as  Americans,  as  followers  of  our 
Fathers,  band  around  the  Bible  and  our  manhood, 
that  honoring  the  right,  the  right  may  ever  honor 
us ;  and  with  that  honor  which  is  the  respect  of 
our  fellow  men,  and  the  commendation  of  our  God. 


A  PATRIOTIC  SERMON  ON 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

Acts  1  1  :  24.     "For  he  was  a  good  man,  and  full  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  of  faith." 

SUCH  was  George  Washington,  the  Father  of 
our  Republic,  the  Immortal  Statesman  whose 
birthday  we  commemorate  this  week.  His  genius 
was  preeminently  the  genius  of  goodness.  He  was 
not  a  brilliant  man,  as  we  understand  the  word 
brilliant ;  he  was  not  possessed  of  mental  greatness, 
as  we  account  mental  greatness  in  the  giant  minds 
of  history ;  he  was  a  man  of  exceptional  character 
— a  good  man,  and  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of 
faith. 

Let  us  glance  briefly  at  his  life,  and  consider 
some  of  the  obvious  lessons  that  flow  therefrom. 

George  Washington  came  into  life  in  what  we 
might  call  plain  fashion,  and  his  boyhood  days 
were  conspicuous  for  their  lack  of  superior  advan- 
tages.   His  early  education  was  similar  to  that  of 


128  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Abraham  Lincoln;  the  only  other  American  up  to 
the  present  time  who  is  able  to  stand  life  size  beside 
him  and  not  suffer  in  the  comparison.  Washing- 
ton never  saw  the  inside  of  a  university,  save  as  a 
visitor,  and  his  schooling  was  achieved  at  a  low 
grade  private  school,  taught  by  the  parish  sexton. 
Deprived  of  school  advantages,  however,  he  assid- 
uously trained  himself  outside  of  school.  He 
literally  drilled  himself  in  self-control ;  in  regular- 
ity of  occupation ;  in  the  gentle  art  of  politeness ; 
and  in  the  fear  of  God.  He  self-consciously  laid 
down  rules  and  regulations  to  guide  him  in  the 
avoidance  of  all  that  would  offend  the  most  refined 
taste,  and  appreciated  the  fact  that  decorum  and 
politeness  are  among  the  greatest  influences  where- 
by a  man  of  self-respect  may  expect  to  be  respected 
by  his  fellow  men. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  Washing-ton  earned  his 
livelihood  as  a  surveyor  of  public  lands.  In  this 
vocation  he  continued  for  three  years.  This  proved 
to  be  a  wholesome  discipline,  for  at  the  age  of 
twenty  he  stood  forth  six  feet  two  inches  in  height, 
broad  shouldered,  and  full-chested,  physically  every 
whit  a  man.  It  also  made  him  eminently  practical ; 
familiarized  him  with  fatigue  and  exposure ;  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  his  future  soldier-like  qual- 
ities. At  the  conclusion  of  this  period  he  took  a 
commission  from  the  colony  of  Virginia,  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  French  and  Indian  Wars.     After 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  129 

this  lie  went  with  his  brother  to  the  West  Indies. 
In  the  West  Indies  his  brother  died,  and  Washing- 
ton came  into  possession  of  Mount  Vernon.  When 
twenty-seven  years  old  Washington  married  a 
charming  and  a  wealthy  widow;  a  love  match,  in 
which  money  just  happened  to  be  thrown  in — 
money  that  stood  him  in  good  stead  in  Revolu- 
tionary Times,  and  enabled  him  the  better  to  serve 
his  country. 

At  the  age  of  forty-two  he  became  a  member 
of  the  first  general  Congress  of  the  Colonies,  and 
less  than  three  years  later  he  was,  through  the 
influence  of  John  Adams,  selected  as  Commander- 
in-chief  of  the  American  forces.  He  remained  at 
the  head  of  the  Army  for  seven  years,  during 
which  time  his  foot  never  once  stepped  across  the 
threshold  of  his  own  home.  The  history  of  these 
seven  years  is  familiar  to  you  all ;  they  were  years 
of  intense  interest;  years  of  the  travailing  of  a 
Nation  born  from  the  womb  of  another  JSTation; 
and  years  which  ranged  from  the  raising  of  the 
siege  of  Boston  to  the  surrender  of  the  British 
Army  at  Yorktown. 

Washington's  services  during  the  Revolution 
illustrate  his  character,  and  set  forth  his  peculiar 
endowments.  He  was  persistently  active;  full  of 
untiring  energy;  possessed  of  extraordinary  ex- 
ecutive ability;  but  he  was  also  conspicuous  for 
his  passive  virtues.     In  the  long  run  it  was  his 


130  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

ownership  of  these  virtues  that  won  the  day;  for 
his  conquest  of  the  British  was  achieved  in  the 
final  estimate  through  unadulterated  patience,  and 
strategy  of  retreat,  until  he  wore  down  the  aggres- 
siveness and  resistance  of  his  enemies  by  his  long 
continuance. 

When  the  War  was  over,  Washington's  work 
was  by  no  means  done.  Many  more  years  of 
patriotic  service  were  demanded  of  him  by  his 
Country.  The  most  perilous  period  in  the  history 
of  the  United  States  was  the  four  years  subsequent 
to  the  Revolution.  This  era  has  been  called  by 
John  Fiske,  "the  critical  era" ;  and  a  critical  era 
it  undoubtedly  was.  During  the  War  the  l^ation 
had  been  united  in  a  common  purpose,  a  purpose 
calling  for  the  obliteration  of  all  factional  politics ; 
but  when  the  War  was  over,  and  the  danger  from 
the  outside  had  been  summarily  and  successfully 
dealt  with,  there  loomed  a  danger  from  within,  and 
each  State  became  jealous  of  every  other  State,  and 
sought  not  its  neighbor's  profit,  but  its  own.  There 
was  also  great  financial  distress.  There  was  civil 
war  in  ^orth  Carolina,  and  there  was  revolt  in 
Pennsylvania.  The  demand  became  paramount 
for  a  permanent  consolidation  of  all  the  territories 
of  the  Union ;  for  better  Articles  of  confederation ; 
and  for  a  wider  and  more  representative  Central 
Government.  This  demand,  or  these  series  of  de- 
mands, originated  the  convention  which  framed  the 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  131 

Constitution,  and  of  this  Convention  George  Wash- 
ington was  Chairman.  The  Constitution  framed 
and  adopted,  Washington  became  the  first  Presi- 
dent. We  learn  from  irrefutable  sources  that  in 
this  connection  the  office  sought  the  man — the  man 
did  not  seek  the  office.  We  may  say,  in  truth,  that 
every  position  which  Washington  held  in  the  pub- 
lic service  was  forced  upon  him.  He  accepted 
governmental  offices  only  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and 
out  of  the  conscientious  desire  to  serve  his  country. 

Having  served  as  President  for  eight  years,  the 
wise  limit  of  presidential  rule  for  any  man,  Wash- 
ington retired  to  the  privacy  of  his  home  at  Mount 
Vernon,  and  lived  in  quietness  and  peace  till  death 
called  him  to  the  larger  life  of  Eternity — preserved 
by  God  for  His  faithful  servants  who  have  pro- 
moted, in  large  measure  or  in  small,  the  Kingdom 
of  God  among  the  children  of  men.  When  he  died 
all  America  mourned  for  him,  and  the  ITations  of 
the  earth  joined  with  America  in  the  regret  that 
a  great  man  had  fallen  in  Israel.  The  flags  of 
France  were  craped,  and  even  the  flags  of  Great 
Britain  and  her  remaining  Colonies  floated  at  half 
mast — for,  as  Goldwin  Smith  has  said,  "England 
felt  that  Washington  had  fought  against  the  Gov- 
ernment of  George  the  Third,  and  not  against 
England." 

Such,  in  brief,  is  our  Washington.  This  week 
we  stand  in  his  undying  presence,   and  feel  his 


132  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

power.  He  was  a  good  man,  and  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  of  faith,  and  this  Nation  is  a  great 
Nation  largely  because  of  him. 

Let  us  hear  the  voice  of  George  Washington 
to-day.  What  does  he  say  to  us  upon  whom  these 
present  ends  of  the  world  have  come ;  who  are  face 
to  face  with  a  crisis  approximating  the  crisis 
through  which  he  so  skilfully  steered  the  Ship  of 
State  ?  Let  us  read  and  apply  some  of  the  lessons 
of  his  life,  and  apply  them  as  in  the  light  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  seems  to  me  that  Washington  says  three 
things ;  three  things  which  if  we  heed,  and  follow, 
will  have  their  part  in  the  making  of  the  gi-eat 
Ultimate  America  of  the  future. 

(1)  Americans,  Give  Your  Country  a  True 
Manhood:  A  Nation  is  the  making  place  of  men; 
"show  us  your  man,"  land  cries  to  land;  and  as 
our  manhood  is  strong  so,  and  only  so,  may  our 
Country  be  four-square  to  all  the  winds  that  blow. 
Our  character  as  a  people  is  the  character  of  our 
separate  citizens.  The  individual  is  the  solution 
of  all  our  problems,  and  the  secret  of  all  our  great- 
ness. Society  must  be  regenerated;  yes,  but  the 
only  way  to  regenerate  society  is  by  regenerating 
the  atoms  of  society.  Our  patriotism  may  never 
rise  higher  than  our  morals,  and  it  will  ever  sink 
to  the  level  of  our  immorality. 

The  vital  question,  then,  is:    What  Are  You? 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  133 

A  man  of  truth ;  a  sober  man ;  an  honest  man ;  a 
man  who  finds  his  sufficiency  of  life  in  the  suf- 
ficiency which  comes  of  adherence  to  the  highest 
motives  and  the  noblest  principles?  Show  me  a 
nation  of  such  men,  and  I  will  show  you  a  mag- 
nificent iN'ation,  a  Nation  of  civil  and  religious 
liberties,  and  a  Nation  whose  career  is  a  career  of 
continued  exaltation.  We  must  have  good  men; 
not  necessarily  clever  men,  nor  smart  men,  for 
clever  and  smart  men  are  innately  stupid  and  dull, 
but  good  men;  men  like  Washington  who  showed 
for  all  time  that  goodness,  not  intellect,  is  the 
equivalent  of  greatness.  The  genius  of  character 
— that  is  what  we  need  above  all  else. 

"God  give  us  men !    A  time  like  this  demands 
Clean  minds,  pure  hearts,  true  faith,  and  ready  hands." 

Yes ;  you  must  serve  your  Country,  and  in  no 
other  way  may  you  serve  your  Country  so  well  as 
by  being  good — just  good. 

(2)  The  Voice  of  Washington  says.  Be  Intense 
Americans:  We  must  see  to  it  that  there  is  no 
division  of  loyalty  upon  the  part  of  our  citizens. 
Of  the  foreign-born,  and  of  those  of  foreign  par- 
entage, we  must  expect,  if  not  patriotism,  at  least 
loyalty.  We  have  opened  the  gates  of  our  Nation 
to  all  the  peoples  of  the  world,  and  we  have  the 
right  to  expect  that  those  whom  we  have  welcomed 
shall  welcome  us  in  return,  and  pay  due  deference 


134  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

to  our  laws  and  ideals.  Only  upon  such  conditions 
may  we  continue  to  harbor  them,  and  give  them 
all  that  life  holds  most  dear,  security  of  life  and 
limb,  and  the  privilege  of  equal  opportunity.  It  is 
only  equitable  and  of  the  justice  of  things  that 
those  who  are  participators  in  our  generous  hos- 
pitality should,  if  they  determine  to  remain  among 
us,  become  naturalized  citizens  of  our  Republic, 
and  that  in  the  meantime  they  should  behave  them- 
selves as  courteous  guests  in  the  banqueting  house 
of  a  courteous  host.  We  have  waved  the  flag  of 
our  invitation  to  strangers  on  the  understanding 
that  they  are  to  become  friends,  and  more  than 
friends — fellow-citizens,  and  equal  sharers  in  a 
common  burden.  We  have  invited  these  people  to 
work  out  with  us  Americanism,  and  Americanism 
of  the  most  undiluted  type.  The  oath  of  natural- 
ization is  neither  more  nor  less  than  an  oath  of 
purgation  whereby  all  foreign  allegiance  is  forever 
renounced.  The  man  who  takes  it  in  its  spirit  is 
bom  into  a  new  civil  life.  By  propaganda  and,  if 
needs  be,  by  ramified  restriction,  we  must  see  to 
it  that  that  oath  is  kept  in  purpose  as  well  as  in 
intent.  "The  Stars  and  Stripes  must  be  the  one 
flag  for  all,  and  there  must  be  one  sovereign  for 
all — the  will  of  the  people  exercised  according  to 
the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  National  Constitu- 
tion." 

Finally:    The  Voice  of  Washington  says  that 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  135 

Atnerica  Must,  Whatever  the  Sacrifice,  Hold  Her 
Leadership  Among  the  Nations  of  the  Earth:  We 
are  faced  with  many  problems.  There  is  the 
money  problem,  one  of  our  greatest  problems,  and 
withal  one  of  our  greatest  dangers;  there  is  the 
race  problem,  and  the  educational  problem,  and  the 
problem  of  our  foreign  policy ;  and  all  these  prob- 
lems must  be  solved  not  merely  in  relation  to 
ourselves,  but  in  relation  to  humanity.  The  op- 
pressed in  all  the  countries  of  the  world,  espe- 
cially in  this  era  of  unprecedented  oppression,  are 
looking  toward  America  for  light ;  for  sympathetic 
help ;  and  for  guidance  in  conduct  and  diplomacy. 
In  l^ineteen  Hundred  and  Seventeen  we  have  an 
extraordinary  mission  to  the  universe.  The  eyes  of 
the  whole  world,  civilized  and  uncivilized,  Christian 
and  pagan,  are  focussed  upon  our  every  move,  and 
our  national  decisions  as  related  to  other  nations 
are  the  subject  of  hourly  commendation  or  con- 
demnation in  all  the  newspapers  and  parliaments 
of  the  world. 

Shall  we  be  true  to  the  trust  which  is  being 
imposed  in  us?  Shall  we  rise  to  the  greatness, 
perchance  the  greatness  of  unprecedented  sacrifice, 
which  is  expected  of  our  favored  and  influential 
position  among  the  governments  of  the  hemi- 
spheres ?  God  grant  that  we  may — and  abundantly 
so.    Then, 


136  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

"Sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State! 
Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great! 
Humanity,  with  all  its  fears, 
With  all  its  hopes  of  future  years. 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate." 


A  SERMON  UPON  UNUSUAL  METHODS  * 

St.  Mark  2:4,     "And  when  they  could  not  come  nigh 
unto  Him  for  the  press,  they  uncovered  the  roof," 

'T^HE  incident  is  familiar  to  all  readers  of  the 
■^  ISTew  Testament,  It  is  Capernaum,  the 
central  city  of  Christ's  Galilean  ministry.  Jesus 
is  staying  in  the  house  of  a  friend.  As  soon  as  the 
inhabitants  are  aware  of  His  presence  they  leave 
their  businesses,  and  domestic  duties,  and  flock  to 
hear  Him. 

In  the  community  there  is  a  palsied  man,  bed- 
ridden for  many  years,  and  accepting  his  disability 
as  a  permanent  condition.  His  neighbors  tell  him 
of  the  miracle  worker  in  their  midst;  enumerat- 
ing a  long  list  of  cures  effected  by  His  magic  touch. 
At  first  the  sick  man  is  incredulous,  but,  soon, 
the  power  of  suggestion  does  its  work.  He  gives 
a  reluctant  consent  to  be  brought  into  contact  with 
Jesus.    His  neighbors,  three  on  one  side,  and  three 


•  This  sermon  is  based  upon  a  study  by  Dr.  Joseph  Parker. 


138  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

on  another  side,  and  one  at  either  end,  lift  the  bed 
with  its  human  freight  bodily  from  the  floor,  and, 
passing  through  the  door  of  the  house,  traverse, 
amid  much  curiosity,  the  narrow  streets  of  the 
town  until  they  come  to  the  house  where  Jesus  is. 
Here  they  are  met  with  a  disappointment — the 
crowd  is  so  dense  that  even  the  sidewalk  is  thronged 
with  people  unable  to  gain  an  entrance.  The 
palsied  man  expostulates,  and  desires  to  be  con- 
veyed back  to  his  home;  but  his  attendants  will 
not  hear  of  such  a  course,  and,  after  consultation, 
they  take  the  sufferer  up  the  steps,  which  were  al- 
ways to  be  found  on  the  outside  walls  of  an  eastern 
house,  and,  drawing  aside  the  canvas  which  served 
as  a  roof,  they  lower  their  burden  through  the 
opening  to  the  Feet  of  Christ.  And,  The  Master 
sees  the  man,  and  compelled  by  his  faith,  and  the 
faith  of  his  companions,  grants  the  craved  for 
blessing,  and  the  invalid  is  restored  to  health. 

There  are  many  lessons  in  the  well-known 
story ;  but  the  idea  which  I  desire  to  elaborate  to-day 
is  this :  If  you  want  to  get  close  to  Jesus,  and  to 
he  the  recipient  of  His  bounty,  unusual  rnethods 
are  as  legitimate  and  as  effective  as  usual  methods. 
You  may  always  achieve  your  ambition  somehow, 
if  you  are  in  living  earnest. 

(1)  Do  you  really  want  to  see  Jesus  Christ  f 
I  would  answer  that  question  for  you  in  the  af- 
firmative.   Whatever  your  consciousness,  or  uncon- 


UNUSUAL  METHODS  139 

sciousness,  of  the  fact  you  want  to  see  and  to 
know  Jesus  Christ  more  than  anything  else  in  the 
world.  You  are  hungry  for  Him;  you  are  lonely 
without  Him ;  and  this  your  soul  knows  right  well. 

But;  for  what  purpose  do  you  want  to  see 
Christ?  Everything  depends  upon  your  attitude 
to  that  enquiry.  Christ  will  not  answer  some 
calls,  however  voiciferous  they  may  happen  to  be. 
Herod  expected  to  see  a  miracle  done  by  Him, 
and  Jesus  turned  into  a  cold,  unresponsive  stone; 
looked  at  Herod  as  a  corpse  might  have  looked 
at  him;  and  answered  him  not  a  word.  Do  you 
want  to  see  Him  upon  real,  soul  business  ?  Then, 
He  will  stay  up  all  night  with  an  earnest  Nico- 
demus.  He  is  silent  to  speculation;  He  is  dumb 
to  curiosity;  but,  to  sincerity  He  opens  the  flood 
gates  of  His  love. 

More  than  this:  Are  you  prepared  to  take  the 
roof  away  rather  than  not  see  Him?  Are  you 
ready  for  unusual  methods,  for  peculiar  and  ec- 
centric ways,  rather  than  be  baffled  in  your  quest 
after  the  Son  of  God?  We  must  not,  of  course, 
be  eccentric  merely  for  the  sake  of  eccentricity. 
If  these  men  in  our  story  had  uncovered  the  roof 
without  first  going  to  the  door,  Christ  would  have 
rebuked  them.  There  is  an  eccentricity  which  is 
naught  else  than  base  vulgarity.  But,  if  we  go 
to  the  door,  and  cannot  gain  an  entrance  in  the 
regular  way,  then  a  door  must  be  made,  even  though 


140       •   THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

it  be  made  through  the  roof.  Circumstances  are 
to  be  treated  originally  for  the  achievement  of  a 
worthy  purpose. 

We  would  see  and  know  Jesus,  then;  we  are 
reverent  in  our  desire;  and  we  are  prepared,  if 
needs  be,  for  extraordinary  procedure. 

How  may  we  see  Him'?  There  are  many  doors 
to  the  House  of  His  abode.  Let  us  try  the  -first. 
How  crowded  it  is !  Long  bearded  men  fill  up  the 
vestibule;  venerable  men,  with  intelligence  shin- 
ing in  their  eyes.  Their  bearing  denotes  them  to  be 
men  of  culture  and  refinement.  We  cannot  pass 
through  them,  however,  because  we  have  not 
mastered  their  letters.  These  are  the  Rabbis  of 
the  Church,  and,  unless  we  swing  with  them  over 
the  centuries,  we  cannot  pass  that  way. 

Let  us  try  another  door:  It  is  thronged.  Men 
are  here  with  the  aroma  of  the  midnight  oil  upon 
their  faces.  They  talk  long  and  hard  words;  we 
never  heard  our  mothers  use  such  a  vocabulary. 
Each  word  is  a  word  of  ten  syllables,  and  requires 
a  sort  of  verbal  surgery  to  take  it  to  pieces.  These 
are  the  philosophers  and  metaphysicians.  We  can- 
not elbow  our  way  through  their  company.  We 
are  too  concrete  and  matter  of  fact,  for  their  ab- 
stract subtleties. 

Here  is  another  door:  It  is  barred  by  a  surg- 
ing multitude.  We  see  men  reasoning  in  high 
argument;  proving  and  disproving;  reaching  con- 


UNUSUAL  METHODS  Ml 

elusions,  and  destroying  suppositions.  They  have 
weights  and  scales  and  measures.  These  are  the 
logicians,  the  argumentarians,  and  the  controver- 
sialists. They  are  blocking  our  progress.  You  and 
I,  poor  broken  hearts,  cannot  get  in  there !  What 
shall  we  do  ?  Go  home  again  ?  No ;  for  we  have 
come  to  find  Jesus,  and  find  Jesus  we  must. 

Here  is  a  fourth  door :  Once  more  the  surging 
press.  A  strange  crowd  this !  Men  are  burning 
incense;  ringing  bells;  performing  ceremonies; 
and  gesticulating  in  wierdest  fashion.  Who  are 
these  ?  Why ;  the  ceremonialists.  They  have  their 
cut  and  dried  doctrines;  they  are  sure  of  their 
position  beyond  peradventure.  These  are  the 
ecclesiastics;  men  who  have  clerical  tailors  all  to 
themselves.  We  cannot  get  through  here;  the  at- 
mosphere is  positively  nauseating. 

Shall  we  give  up  ?  No.  We  have  come  to  find 
Christ,  and  find  Him  we  must.    What  shall  we  do  ? 

Why:  We  must  resort  to  unusual  ways.  There 
are  those  who  say  that  they  would  feign  enter 
the  House  where  Christ  is,  but  that  they  cannot 
find  their  way  through  the  rabbis,  or  through  the 
philosophers,  or  through  the  logicians,  or  through 
the  ecclesiastics.  Shame  on  them.  They  are  not 
in  earnest.  They  would  never  permit  a  human 
friend  to  escape  that  way. 

Nicodemus  found  a  way :  It  was  a  long  day's 
waiting ;  night  arrived ;  and  the  darkness  took  him 


142  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

as  a  veiled  friend  to  the  abode  of  the  Saviour,  and 
he  and  Jesus  sat  up  until  the  morning's  light,  and 
l^icodemus  was  born  again. 

Zacchaeus  found  a  ivay:  He  was  short;  he 
could  not  see  over  the  shoulders  of  the  crowd ; 
but  he  climbed  up  into  a  sycamore  tree,  dapper 
gentleman  that  he  was  he  was  not  afraid  of  ridi- 
cule, and  he  saw  the  procession  as  it  passed  by,  and 
he  attracted  the  attention  of  Jesus,  and  that  day 
salvation  came  to  his  house. 

There  was  a  woman  who  found  a  way:  She 
said,  "if  I  may  but  touch  the  hem  of  His  garment 
I  shall  be  healed."  She  did  it  silently ;  but  Jesus 
knew,  for  He  said,  "Who  hath  touched  Me  ?  Some 
finger  hath  taken  life  out  of  Me;  whose  finger  was 
it?"  And  the  woman  was  made  whole;  for  there 
is  a  rude  touch  that  gets  nothing,  and  there  is  a 
sensitive  touch  that  extracts  lightning  from  God. 
"He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear" ;  and  he 
that  hath  fingers  to  touch,  let  him  touch. 

Do  you  want  to  see  Jesus  f  Then,  there  is  a 
permissive  violence.  "They  uncovered  the  roof; 
and  when  they  had  broken  it  up".  That  is  the  way 
to  talk.  These  men  would  not  let  fifteen  feet  of 
canvas  stand  between  them  and  the  Healer  of  the 
Universe.  When  Christ  saw  their  faith  He  said, 
"Son;  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee!"  That  is  His 
consistent  reply  to  earnestness.  Unusual  ways  are 
permitted,  and  commended,  under  certain  circum- 


UNUSUAL  METHODS  143 

stances.  Where  there  is  a  will  there  is  always  a 
way,  some  way. 

This  is  where  the  Church  has  oftentimes  gone 
wrong.  The  Church  has  its  methods,  and  its  cut 
and  dried  plans,  and  its  neat  way  of  doing  things. 
The  Church  needs  a  greater  breadth ;  she  ought  to 
be  turned  to  her  multifarious  uses.  We  must  make 
the  Church  as  wide  as  all  temperaments;  as  big 
as  all  differing  aspects  of  truth,  and  as  universal 
as  God.  That  all  men  may  come  to  find  Christ 
within  the  fold  of  the  Church  the  Church  must 
have  its  amenable  roof  as  well  as  its  orthodox  doors ! 
The  Church  was  made  for  man;  not  man  for  the 
Church.  If  we  cannot  find  Christ  in  the  accepted 
manner,  then,  if  we  never  find  Him  we  have  only 
ourselves  to  blame.  Jesus  says,  "I  would;  but 
ye  would  not.  Ye  would  not  come  unto  Me  that 
ye  might  have  life." 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  and  to  know  Christ.  It 
means  battle,  and  pressure,  and  determination,  and 
personal  ingenuity.  "Strait  is  the  gate,  and  nar- 
row is  the  way."  The  journey  is  over  a  mound 
called  Calvary.  "Except  a  man  deny  himself,  and 
take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  Me,  he  cannot  be  My 
disciple."  To  one  man  Jesus  said,  "sell  all  that 
thou  hast,  and  come."  To  another  man,  "except 
a  man  hate  his  father  and  his  mother,  he  cannot 
be  My  disciple."  To  still  another  man,  "the  Son 
of  Man  hath  not  where  to  lav  His  head." 


144  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Will  you  find  Christ  ?  Then,  all  these  unusual 
methods,  and  many  more,  all  this  individualism, 
are  open  for  your  expressive  application.  Ortho- 
doxy or  heterodoxy  are  your  avenues  of  approach. 
The  roof  is  before  you  as  a  sure  expedient  when  the 
doors  are  blocked. 

I  set  before  you  the  gates  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God;  I  open  them  in  the  ISTame  of  Jesus  Christ. 
To  weary  people  He  says,  "come  unto  Me,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest."  To  thirsty  men  He  says,  "if 
any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  Me  and  drink." 

Blessed  be  God  for  His  Word;  for  we  have 
read  to-day  that  if  any  man  really  desires  to  see 
and  to  know  the  Son  of  God,  him  will  the  Son 
of  God  both  see  and  know,  and  heal. 


SIMON  PETER  AND  SIMON  THE  TANNER. 
AN  ORDINATION  SERMON 

Acts    10:  6.      "He  lodgeth  with  one  Simon  a  tanner, 
whose  house  is  by  the  sea-side." 

A  GOOD  deal  is  made  of  this  man  and  his  resi- 
dence. "It  came  to  pass  that  he  tarried  many 
days  in  Joppa  with  one  Simon  a  tanner."  "Go 
therefore  to  Joppa,  and  call  hither  Simon  whose 
surname  is  Peter,  for  he  lodgeth  in  the  house  of 
one  Simon  a  tanner  by  the  sea-side." 

There  are  few  men  whose  names  and  addresses 
are  given  so  repeatedly  and  conspicuously  in  the 
Bible.  Such  detail  must  stand  for  something. 
There  must  be  more  in  the  matter  than  a  super- 
ficial reading  would  suggest. 

What  have  we  to  do  with  Peter's  lodging  or 
with  Peter's  host  ?  Simon  is  dead  long  since,  the 
house  has  crumbled  into  dust;  and  Peter  has  long 
ago  passed  into  celestial  spheres.  We  would  hear 
about  something  more  important  in  an  inspired 
book.    The  error  is  on  our  side.    If  we  could  grasp 


146  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

our  text  in  the  totality  of  its  meaning  and  sugges- 
tion we  would  discover  that  the  whole  record  of 
Christianity  is  contained  in  this  verse. 

In  order  to  understand  this  we  must  familiarize 
ourselves  with  a  certain  grotesque  aspect  of  Jewish 
history ;  we  must  come  to  regard  Tanners  ivith  the 
eye  of  the  ancient  Jew :  The  attitude  was  this,  "The 
world  cannot  get  along  without  Tanners,  but  woe 
to  that  man  who  is  a  tanner."  To  get  an  old-time 
Jew  to  lodge  with  a  tanner  would  require,  so  to 
speak,  the  combined  energy  of  God  the  Father,  God 
the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Jew,  as 
you  know,  made  much  of  the  letter,  whatever  he 
did  with  the  spirit.  He  was  intensely  scrupulous, 
jealously  ritualistic;  he  was  nothing  if  not  cere- 
monial. You  remember  the  levitical  law  of  mar- 
riage. If  a  brother  died  without  issue,  he  was  to 
be  succeeded  by  his  brother.  That  law  was  fixed 
and  final ;  but  there  was  one  exception  to  it.  If  the 
succeeding  brother  was  a  Tanner  the  law  was  sus- 
pended. We  are  also  told  by  the  same  learned 
authorities  that  if  a  bride  discovered  that  her  hus- 
band was  a  Tanner,  the  marriage  was  dissolved. 
Moreover,  the  house  of  the  Tanner  was  always  at 
the  east  end  of  the  town.  It  is  significant  that 
Simon's  house  was  by  the  sea-side.  The  Jews 
pushed  the  Tanners  out  as  far  as  possible;  they 
would  gladly  have  shoved  them  all  into  the  sea. 
How   inveterate    must   have    been   the    prejudice 


SIMON  AND  SIMON  147 

against  this  occupation.  To  get  an  ancient  Jew 
who  had  never  eaten  anything  unclean  to  lodge  with 
a  Tanner  was  a  miracle  of  miracles,  the  supreme 
conquest  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Now  let  us  read  our  text:  Simon  Peter,  a  Jew 
of  the  Jews,  who  even  if  hungry  would  not  touch 
anything  unclean,  who  even  in  a  dream  would  not 
arise  and  eat  because  the  things  in  the  descending 
sheet  seemed  to  be  unclean — he  lodgeth  with  one 
Simon  a  Tanner!  Everything  that  Christianity 
ever  did  is  in  that  statement.  Let  that  fact  stand 
alone  for  a  moment. 

You  may  he  familiar  with  a  picture  that  is 
drawn  very  graphically  by  a  celebrated  artist: 
He  calls  our  attention  to  a  banquet :  A  Roman  ban- 
quet. The  word  Roman  multiplies  the  banquet.  A 
banquet  that  is  Roman  is  twice  a  banquet.  The 
hall  is  lofty,  barbaric  in  splendor;  the  tables  are 
groaning  beneath  their  wealth  of  luxuries.  The 
artist  bids  us  look  at  the  central  personages  around 
the  board.  What  heads  they  have.  What  eyes. 
Into  what  attitudes  indicative  of  strength  and  dig- 
nity they  throw  themselves.  Every  look  a  picture, 
every  tone  a  language.  Behold  the  gorgeous  ban- 
quet! 

Then  the  artist  asks  us  to  notice  these  lithe, 
silent  footed  figures  that  are  gliding  rather  than 
walking  through  the  corridors  of  the  banqueting 
hall.    He  tells  us  that  thev  are  slaves.    You  cannot 


148  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

hear  their  steps.  If  they  should  happen  to  drop  one 
of  these  crystal  vases  that  they  are  carrying  their 
owners  would  throw  them  into  the  horse-pond  to- 
night, and  not  a  soul  in  Rome  would  ask  "what  has 
become  of  that  life".  It  is  only  a  slave ;  cast  him 
into  the  pond ;  a  splash,  a  gasp,  a  gurgle,  and  the 
slave  is  gone. 

Here  is  another  room  in  the  same  old  Roman 
house.  It  is  a  small  room,  it  is  upstairs ;  take  heed 
how  you  ascend.  There  are  a  few  people  in  the 
room.  Surely  we  have  seen  some  of  these  faces  be- 
fore. Who  is  that  sitting  near  the  haughty  looking 
Patrician  whom  we  saw  in  the  banqueting  hall  ? 
That  looks  like  one  of  those  lithe,  silent-footed  men 
whom  we  saw  waiting  upon  the  dignified  Romans 
whilst  they  ate  and  drank  at  the  feast.  See,  the 
Lord  hands  the  viands  to  the  despised  slave,  the 
slave  partakes  thereof,  and  hands  them  on  to  an- 
other Patrician.  What  is  this  ?  This  is  the  Supper 
of  The  Lord.  What  wrought  this  miracle  ?  Philos- 
ophy? A  nicely  calculated  morality?  Did  some 
Seneca  or  Epictetus  of  the  period  work  out  a  table 
of  manners  that  issued  in  this  ?  No.  This  is  the 
triumph  of  the  Cross.  Only  Calvary  could  have 
constituted  such  an  assembly.  "He  lodgeth  in  the 
house  of  one  Simon  a  tanner  by  the  sea-side." 

Here,  then,  and  this  is  the  point  that  I  would 
maJce  in  this  ordination  service,  you  have  the  secret 
of  social  revolution:    Here  you  have  the  only  in- 


SIMON  AND  SIMON  149 

stniment  that  can  work  effectually  for  the  recon- 
ciliation of  classes,  nationalities,  and  institutions. 
This  gives  us  Christianity  under  the  guise  of  a 
great  Social  Reformer.  It  testifies  to  the  anarchiac 
dynamic  of  the  Cross. 

Do  you  think,  my  Brothers,  that  the  Political 
Economists  will  ever  reconcile  existing  differences, 
and  smooth  down  the  human  heart  into  a  state  of 
placid  contentment  ?  Do  you  believe  that  man  will 
ever  be  ruled  from  Columbus,  or  Washington,  or 
from  anywhere  else ;  accepting  the  voice  of  author- 
ity, and  settling  down  into  harmonic  relationships, 
because  some  great  legislative  voice  has  pronounced 
in  this  direction  or  in  that?  Never.  What  does 
the  world  want  ?  Kegeneration.  What  do  men 
want  who  are  separated,  Tanner  and  Jew  ?  They 
want  an  atmosphere.  And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
a  breath,  a  wind,  an  afflatus,  an  inspiration ;  a  Per- 
sonality that  rules  often  without  words  or  exposi- 
tions of  a  literal  kind.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
among  men  as  a  fire,  solving,  cleansing,  purifying. 

Christianity,  then,  should  operate  as  a  great 
Social  Factor:  The  Eich  Man  need  not  be  lectured 
upon  his  duty  to  the  Poor.  All  that  is  needed  is 
that  the  rich  man  should  be  converted,  and  he  will 
instinctively  see  to  the  poor.  Touch  the  man's 
heart,  crucify  him  with  Christ ;  introduce  him  into 
the  mystery  of  the  Divine  Love  as  witnessed  in  the 
Incarnation,  and  he  will  require  no  Polemics. 


150  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

My  Brothers,  we  are  working  superficially, 
whatever  philanthropic  endeavors  we  may  be  en- 
gaged in,  if  we  work  without  Christ.  We  are  daub- 
ing the  walls  with  untempered  mortar.  We  are 
crying  Peace,  Peace,  when  there  is  no  peace.  We 
are  the  victims  of  compromises  and  concessions. 
We  are  in  the  thraldom  of  words  and  phrases.  It 
is  all  valueless  in  the  long  run,  and  infinitely  tir- 
ing and  pathetic.  "Marvel  not  that  I  say  unto  you 
that  you  must  be  bom  again" — not  painted,  artis- 
tically decorated,  legislated  into  disciplinary  regu- 
lations. Christ's  men  are  bom  to  Him,  they  have 
a  household  air,  and  a  household  dignity. 

You  see  what  I  mean  ?  I  call  upon  you  to  be 
Ministers  of  Religion,  not  superintendents  of  char- 
ities and  benevolences.  As  Ministers  of  Christ  you 
will  not  be  called  upon  to  enter  the  Municipal,  or 
State,  or  Federal  arena ;  nor  even  to  gloat  your  con- 
gregations with  topical  discourses  upon  sociological 
themes.  That  job  is  for  others,  experts  in  their 
several  persuasions.  Will  you  then  be  useless  as 
Social  Reformers  and  Propagandists  ?  Surely  not. 
Christ's  ministers  who  are  true  to  their  profession 
are  the  men  from  whom  will  issue  all  social  settle- 
ments. They  are  the  men  behind  the  Sociological 
Gun.  There  are  those  who  say,  "the  Episcopal  Pul- 
pit should  speak  out  more  definitely  upon  Politics 
and  Religion,  upon  Capital  and  Labor,  upon  Civic 
Betterment,  and  Charitable  Reform".     ISTot  neces- 


SIMON  AND  SIMON  151 

sarily  so.  The  Pulpit  will  never  let  these  things 
alone,  it  forever  touches  them  by  keeping  its  fingers 
off  of  them.  It  is  not  a  question  of  manipulation, 
it  is  a  question  of  regeneration.  Make  the  tree  good, 
and  the  fruit  will  look  after  itself ;  make  the  heart 
right,  and  the  hand  will  be  its  willing  slave.  It  is 
a  platitude,  but  a  fact,  you  cannot  reform  a  man 
from  without,  you  cannot  legislate  him  into  good- 
ness, he  must  be  somersaulted  from  within. 

To  believe  this  is,  of  course,  to  accept  the  charge 
of  visionary.  There  are  people  who  can  only  esti- 
mate the  visible,  the  palpable,  the  concrete.  They 
walk  through  the  solar  system  with  a  two-inch  rule 
in  their  hands.  Such  people  may  be  most  repu- 
table. I  would  on  no  occasion  hurt  their  feelings — 
if  they  have  any.  But  such  well-intentioned  indi- 
viduals will  never  straighten  out  the  crookedness  of 
the  social  fabric.  A  man  say^,  "'No  church  for  me 
this  evening.  I  am  going  to  a  meeting  at  the  city 
hall  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  drainage  of 
the  town.  I  am  a  philanthropist  before  I  am  a 
Christian."  So  be  it,  my  friend,  drive  away,  drive 
away ;  get  it  done,  get  it  done.  It  will  accomplish 
a  certain  limited  and  definite  amount  of  good.  The 
earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fulness  thereof;  and 
every  main  sewer  properly  constructed  and  honestly 
paid  for  is  the  Lord's.  But  when  all  is  said  and 
done,  it  is  the  heart  that  rules ;  it  is  the  Spirit  that 
determines  history.    The  Christian  minister  is  also 


152  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

building,  also  purifying  the  town  and  neighbor- 
hood. His  is  the  all-inclusive  function.  If  men 
would  only  say  Amen  to  their  prayers,  they  would 
sweep  every  chimney,  cleanse  every  drain,  white- 
wash every  sordid  dwelling,  and  give  every  man 
space  to  live  in. 

I  venture  to  assert,  then,  that  the  men  who  have 
the  handling  of  the  mysteries  of  life  are  the  men 
who  rule  the  destiny  of  the  world.  The  Church,  if 
true  to  herself,  is  in  the  fore-front  and  in  the 
background  of  all  social  revolution  and  reforma- 
tion. The  Church  says :  "We  know,  for  the  Lord 
has  put  the  secret  into  our  hearts,  we  know  what 
will  heal,  permanently  heal,  every  wound,  and 
reconcile  every  difference;  the  preaching  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  Him  crucified." 

In  the  ordinary  field  of  our  regular  ministry, 
in  the  preaching  of  the  Word,  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  sacraments,  we  have  our  legitimate  part 
in  the  forcing  of  the  world's  progress.  The  man 
who  thunders  forth  "Do  unto  others  as  you  would 
that  others  would  do  unto  you"  minimizes  all  op- 
pressions, lightens  every  burden,  tempers  all  in- 
equalities. Every  syllable  that  the  Blessed  Jesus 
ever  uttered  contains  in  it  the  pledge  of  social 
evolution. 

/  would  impress  this  fundamental  truth  upon 
you  my  brothers,  who  enter  the  ministry  of  the 
Church  to-day.     The  spiritual  is  the  raison  d'etre 


SIMON  AND  SIMON  153 

of  jour  vocation.  Your  work  will  be  to  bring  the 
power  of  an  endless  life  to  bear  upon  the  fleeting 
concerns  of  the  dying  moment.  See  to  it  that  you 
are  faithful  to  your  privilege. 

ITever  believe  that  you  are  the  second  man  in 
the  great  process  of  social  improvement ;  and  never 
show  that  you  are  the  first  man  in  the  sense  that 
indicates  invidiousness,  ambition,  or  foolish  self- 
assertion.  Let  your  dignity  be  in  your  subject. 
Let  your  power  be  in  your  inspiration.  Pray  with- 
out ceasing.  Be  men  of  prayer.  Then  the  house 
of  Simon  the  Tanner  will  be  situated  in  the  centre 
of  the  town ;  and  Simon  and  Peter  shall  lodge 
together  in  amicable  relationship  forever. 


LIKE  MASTER  LIKE  DISCIPLE. 
AN  ORDINATION  SERMON 

St.  John  16:  32.     "I  am  not  alone,  because  the  Father 
is  with  me." 

nr^HE  loneliest  life  ever  lived  in  the  world  was 
•■■     the   life  of   Jesus    Christ.      That   loneliness 
issued  from  two  apparent  causes:     His  consecra- 
tion, and  His  proclamation  of  the  Truth. 

(1)  His  consecration:  Jesus  had  a  mission. 
He  came  to  earth  for  a  purpose  and  He  was  forever 
conscious  of  that  purpose.  "I  am  come  to  do  the 
will  of  Him  that  sent  me."  "My  Father  worketh 
hitherto  and  I  work."  "Wist  ye  not  that  I  must 
be  about  my  Father's  business  ?"  "I  am  among 
3'Ou  as  one  that  serveth."  That  sense  of  consecra- 
tion pervaded  His  entire  ministry,  as  the  sun  per- 
vades and  constitutes  the  daylight.  It  was  part  and 
parcel  with  Himself. 

See  how  it  ministered  to  His  loneliness:  As  a 
child  at  ISTazareth  He  was  misunderstood ;  He  was 
a  Boy  unlike  the  boys  about  Him.     There  was  an 


LIKE  MASTER  LIKE  DISCIPLE  155 

aloofness  about  Him  that  bespoke  an  object  nearer 
and  dearer  to  His  heart  than  the  pertinent  interests 
of  the  immediate  moment.  As  a  youth  in  the  car- 
penter's shop  He  was  a  pattern  of  industry  to  His 
companions,  but  He  worked  silently  and  with  an 
air  of  preoccupation  that  singled  Him  out  as  sepa- 
rate and  estranged.  This  peculiarity  of  tempera- 
ment was  expressed  to  the  full  one  day.  He  left 
His  home  and  His  occupation  to  tour  the  land  of 
Palestine  as  a  mendicant  evangelist.  It  was  a 
departure  unheard  of  in  the  quiet  village  among 
the  hills,  and  His  relatives  and  friends  set  out  to 
lay  hands  upon  Him,  for  they  said,  "He  is  beside 
Himself,  He  is  mad." 

Then  in  the  world  at  large,  surrounded  at  first 
by  multitudes  and  latterly  by  twelve  selected  men, 
He  was  a  man  apart ;  no  one  thoroughly  understood 
His  message.  He  was  an  enigma  even  to  His  dis- 
ciples, one  of  whom  betrayed  Him,  one  of  whom 
denied  Him,  and  all  of  whom,  in  the  hour  of 
calamity,  forsook  Him  and  fled.  Surely  a  loneli- 
ness of  soul,  an  isolation  of  spirit  was  His,  such  a 
loneliness  and  such  an  isolation  as  only  a  conscious- 
ness of  mission  could  bestow. 

(2)  He  was  lonely  because  of  His  proclama- 
tion of  the  .truth:  He  said,  "I  am  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life."  It  was  said  of  Him  by  others, 
"He  spake  with  authority,  and  not  as  the  scribes." 

Truth  is  never  popular.    It  runs  counter  to  the 


156  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

license  of  mankind.  But  the  truth  as  preached  by 
Jesus  was  directly  antagonistic  to  the  conception  of 
the  age  in  which  it  was  announced.  It  was  incon- 
ceivable that  the  long-promised  Messiah  should 
appear  in  the  tattered  garments  of  a  despised  hu- 
mility; a  simpering  Evangelist  who  gave  as  His 
text,  "Forgive  your  enemies."  "Render  unto 
Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's."  So  the  record 
of  the  ministry  of  Jesus  is  a  record  of  false  witness 
and  persecution  ending  in  a  felon's  death.  And, 
O,  the  abyssmal  loneliness  of  it  all.  To  have  one's 
sincerest  utterances  exposed  to  a  hostile  criticism, 
and  weighed  in  the  scales  of  a  purblind  ecclesias- 
ticism. 

In  His  sense  of  mission,  then,  and  in  His  proc- 
lamation of  the  truth,  the  life  of  Jesus  was  a  life 
of  superlative  loneliness. 

But  the  compensation  for  this  consciousness  of 
isolation  was  found  by  the  Master  in  the  realized 
and  abiding  companionship  of  the  Father:  "I  am 
not  alone,  for  the  Father  is  with  Me."  The  word 
Father  was  ever  upon  the  Saviour's  lips.  We  hear 
it  at  the  very  outset  of  His  life  as  a  mere  child : 
"My  Father's  business."  We  hear  it  in  every  ser- 
mon He  preached,  and  in  every  prayer  he  uttered. 
We  hear  it  at  the  close  of  His  career,  "Father  into 
Thy  hands  I  commend  My  spirit."  He  found  the 
Father  nearer  than  breathing,  closer  than  hands 
and  feet. 


LIKE  MASTER  LIKE  DISCIPLE  157 

Now,  my  brothers  who  become  priests  to-day,  all 
this  in  its  fullest  significance  applies  to  you: 

(1)  Consecration:  You  are  here  this  morning 
to  be  set  apart  from  your  fellows  for  the  work  of 
the  priesthood,  to  be  endowed  with  power  from  on 
high  for  the  ministry  of  souls.  Before  men  and 
before  God,  from  to-day  henceforth  and  forever, 
you  are  to  stand  as  messengers,  watchmen,  and 
stewards  of  the  King  of  Kings. 

The  loneliness  of  Jesus  will  be  your  ministerial 
heritage,  and  you  will  experience  it  in  exact  ratio 
to  your  fidelity.  A  minister's  life  is  a  lonely  life, 
the  loneliest  of  all  lives  lived  upon  this  hospitable 
earth.  Let  there  be  no  misunderstanding  about 
that  in  your  minds  from  the  outset. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  world  this  is  true. 
The  priest  is  a  man  with  a  mission,  he  is  differ- 
entiated from  his  fellows,  i^o  amount  of  subter- 
fuge may  permit  the  same  behavior  after  ordination 
as  before.  If  the  individual  advocates  it,  the  world 
condemns  it,  and  that  condemnation  spells  the  valid- 
ity of  the  demarcation.  For  the  priest  there  may 
be  no  compromise  between  God  and  mammon. 
Harmful  pleasures  and  many  innocent  enjoy- 
ments are  forbidden  for  necessity's  or  expediency's 
sake.  Friendship  changes  its  character,  conversa- 
tion alters  its  tone.  The  world  will  meet  you  with 
a  cold  reserve,  or  with  a  forced  gaiety,  as  forced 
as  it  is  unnatural.     Society  will  accept  you  as  a 


158  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

necessary  adjunct  to  its  conventionalities,  a  portion 
of  it  expecting  to  be  gratified  by  your  operations 
on  the  Sabbath.  Day ;  granting  you  admission  into 
its  homes  when  death  is  imminent,  and  looking  for 
your  specified  performance  at  a  wedding  or  a 
funeral  ceremony,  but  barring  you  out  of  the  inner 
sanctum  of  its  unrestrained  merriment.  Men  will 
curb  their  naturalistic  outbursts  when  you  are  near, 
and  vote  your  absence  in  the  ordinary  occasions  of 
life  as  more  satisfactory  than  your  proximity.  You 
must  look  forward  to  being  used  and  criticized 
unmercifully,  not  enjoyed,  to  being  regarded  as  a 
sombre  necessity,  not  as  a  delectable  luxury.  You 
will  always  be  the  minister  and  the  satisfied  world 
will  ever  continue  to  assume  with  every  appear- 
ance of  self-complacency  its  unministerial  attitudes. 
Your  very  garb  is  symptomatic  of  the  non-assimi- 
lative tendencies  of  your  profession. 

Moreover:  your  days  and  nights  are  dedicated. 
If  you  are  loyal  to  the  enthusiasm  that  should 
actuate  a  prophet  your  time  will  be  utilized  to  the 
fullest  extent  and  beyond  the  bounds  of  elastic 
enlargement.  The  priest  is  never  off  duty,  his 
work  is  never  done.  There  is  no  eight-hour  day 
for  him,  and  contrary  to  general  belief,  Sunday  is 
his  holiday.  By  the  very  necessity  of  the  case  then, 
you  are  prevented  from  entering  the  phantasma- 
goria of  an  average  life.  Because  you  are  a  man 
with  a  mission,  from  the  world's  side  and  from 


LIKE  MASTER  LIKE  DISCIPLE  159 

your  own  side,  a  loneliness  of  spirit  is  demanded 
unparalleled  in  any  other  walk  of  life.  You  are 
consecrated  and  therefore  perforce  you  are  sepa- 
rated. 

(2)  Truth:  You  are  about  to  undertake 
solemn  vows  to  proclaim  the  truth  as  contained  in 
the  Catholic  creeds.  If  you  ever  find  that  you 
cannot  preach  those  truths  in  their  entirety  then  as 
an  honest  man  secede  from  the  Church  which  has 
enough  to  do  to  fight  the  world  without  apart  from 
contending  with  sophistry  within,  to  convert  sin- 
ners apart  from  harboring  disloyal  sons.  Your 
proclamation  of  the  truth  will  gain  you  many 
enemies,  and  win  for  you  a  conceited  unpopularity. 
This  is  peculiarly  true  at  the  present  time  and  in 
the  United  States  of  America.  There  is  a  nebulous 
charity  abroad  amongst  men  to-day,  a  liberalism 
which  is  based  not  upon  intelligent  conviction  but 
upon  a  good-natured  indifference.  It  holds  its 
head  high  in  virtuous  broad-mindedness,  but  in 
reality  it  is  the  child  of  ignorance  or  sin.  Your 
attempt  in  your  locality  to  give  the  lie  to  this 
specious  hypocrisy  may  result  in  the  crucifixion 
of  yourself. 

To  preach  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God,  as 
the  Second  Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  as  bom 
of  a  virgin,  as  raised  from  the  dead ;  to  preach  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  as  a  true  branch  of 
the  Church  Catholic ;  that  is  a  strong  and  old-fash- 


160  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

ioned  text  for  the  twentieth  century,  and  it  takes 
a  courageous  man  to  preach  it.  It  means  the 
opposition  of  Unitarianism,  Latitudinarianism, 
Christian  Science,  I^ew  Thought,  the  New  Theol- 
ogy, Agnosticism,  Nothingism,  and  above  all  Indif- 
ferentism.  Such  opposition  you  will  assuredly 
meet  with  if  you  preach  the  Truth  as  the  Church 
sees  it  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  You  must  be 
prepared  to  be  a  fool  for  Christ's  sake,  and  to  have 
men  look  at  you  as  though  your  intellect  were 
deranged. 

But  face  this  loneliness,  and  unpopularity,  my 
hrothers,  with  brave  hearts,  for  you  are  about  your 
Father  s  business  and  your  Father  is  with  you. 

In  this,  as  it  was  with  Jesus,  you  will  find  your 
all-sufficient  consolation.  Your  relation  to  God  is 
a  personal  relation.  You  are  not  tying  your  young 
minds  to  a  body  of  doctrine,  but  you  are  placing 
your  hand  in  the  hand  of  a  personal  friend,  and 
you  will  come  to  know  the  friend  better  as  the  years 
go  on.  God  will  be  ever  with  you  in  sorrow  and  in 
joy,  in  darkness  and  in  light;  you  will  be  His 
special  care,  and  in  Him  is  no  variableness,  neither 
shadow  of  turning. 

May  I  assure  you  from  my  own  limited  experi- 
ence that  He  will  manifest  Himself  to  you  as  to  few 
others  in  the  world  of  men,  that  he  has  prepared  for 
you  (in  the  inner  circle  of  His  friendship)  such  good 
things  as  pass  the  average  man's  understanding. 


LIKE  MASTER  LIKE  DISCIPLE  161 

You  will  never  be  alone,  for  the  Father  will 
ever  be  consciously  present  with  you.  Only  life 
may  be  the  commentary  upon  this  assurance.  You 
will  know  Him,  you  will  hear  Him,  you  will  feel 
Him.  He  will  bear  you  up  that  you  strike  not 
your  foot  against  a  stone.  Lonely  ?  Yes,  from  the 
secular  standpoint,  too  lonely  at  times  for  utter- 
ance, but  "These  words  have  I  spoken  unto  you 
that  your  joy  may  be  full."  "Be  of  good  cheer, 
I  have  overcome  the  world." 


THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  SIN 

St.  Luke  23:  34.     "Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do." 

THESE  words  are  interwoven  "with  the  Story  of 
Calvary.  They  are  so  familiar  that  with  many 
of  us  they  have  ceased  to  exert  their  momentous  ap- 
peal. There  is  an  old  proverb — "familiarity  breeds 
contempt."  I  am  not  so  sure  that  contempt  is  the 
prevailing  attitude.  Rather — "familiarity  breeds 
benumbment,"  repetition  makes  us  numb.  The 
issue  of  familiarity  is  the  insensibility  of  the 
commonplace. 

Let  us  get  away  from  the  bondage  of  custom, 
and  see  the  picture  of  Calvary  not  merely  as  though 
we  had  never  seen  it  before  but  as  though  we  were 
actually  present  at  the  incident  ourselves.  Let  us 
feel  that  we  are  jostled  and  pushed  by  the  hurry- 
ing crowd.  Let  us  hear  the  laughter.  The  laughter ! 
that  is  worth  thinking  about ;  the  roaring,  and  the 
shouting,  and  the  self-complacent  ribaldry  of  those 
who  find  in  this  scene  of  agony  the  triumphant 
issue,  the  satisfaction  of  perfidious  scheming.    Let 


THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  SIN  163 

US  see  the  pale  faces  of  the  women,  with  tears  as 
rivulets  streaming  from  their  eyes ;  and  the  terri- 
fied faces  of  the  little  children. 

I  want  to  see  that  Green  Hill  far  away;  as 
it  was,  and  as  it  forever  is,  and  to  look  at  the  central 
figure  upon  the  cross,  with  the  malefactors  on  either 
side.  I  want  to  see  it  all  not  as  a  spectator,  but 
as  a  participator.  I  want  to  exert  the  will,  the 
focussing  power  behind  the  imagination,  and  to  be 
really  present  at  the  crucifixion  of  the  Son  of  God. 

Over  the  attendant  multitude,  and  through  the 
surging  conflict  of  tumultuous  revelry,  conveyed 
as  by  a  spell  of  the  Divine,  are  heard  the  words, 
the  most  gTacious  and  pitying  words  of  history, 
"Father,  forgive  them  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do." 

"They  know  not  what  they  do."  That  is  the 
acme  of  intercession;  that  is  the  climax  of  special 
pleading;  the  universal  palliative  of  justice,  ap- 
plicable to  sinners  of  every  age.  We  sin.  Why? 
In  the  final  analysis  because  we  know  not  what  we 
do.  The  plea  is  a  plea  of  ignorance,  and  as  such  it 
holds  good  for  all  time.  How  many  things  we  have 
done,  which  if  we  had  known  all  that  they  signified 
we  should  never  have  attempted.  We  see  the  act, 
but  not  the  consequences.  We  perform  because 
of  shallow  thought.  We  behold  the  embarkation, 
but  not  the  journey.  We  see  the  road  in  front,  but 
not  the  bypaths,  the  collateral  issues.     Or,  we  see 


164  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

the  inner  circle,  but  not  the  widening  and  ever 
widening  circles  that  touch  the  farther  shore.  In 
truth,  we  know  not  what  we  do. 

"Father:'  The  fatherhood  of  God.  What  is 
it  ?  What  does  it  mean  ?  Is  it  a  mere  counter, 
devoid  of  moment  and  intent  ?  Do  we  understand 
anything  when  we  say,  "Our  Father,"  "God  is  my 
Father  ?"  Is  there  any  influence  exerted  over  our 
life  and  actions  ?  It  was  the  revelation  of  Jesus. 
He  came  to  tell  us  how  to  approach  God  in  the 
love  that  casteth  out  fear,  and  this  He  did  in  the 
words,  "When  ye  pray  say  Our  Father."  Father 
— ^how  may  we  fill  the  term  with  heart's  blood, 
and  make  it  burn  and  live  ? 

When  we  were  young,  "Father"  had  a  certain 
significance.  We  knew  what  it  was  to  call  out 
Father,  and  expect  and  receive  an  answer.  Well, 
take  all  the  best  and  all  the  noblest  and  all  the 
tenderest  of  the  earthly  Father;  take  all  that  as 
a  basis,  and  expand  it  infinitely,  and  arrive  at  a 
conception,  meagre,  it  is  true,  but  so  far  just,  of 
the  Heavenly  Father. 

There  is  a  spectroscope  which  by  recent  ex- 
perimentation has  sho^vn  that  not  merely  the  sun 
and  the  moon,  but  the  remotest  and  minutest  stars 
have  in  them  elements  of  this  earth  on  which  our 
lot  is  cast.  There  is  an  intimacy,  and  more,  a 
relationship  between  our  planets,  and  all  the  con- 
stellations which  surcharge  the  atmosphere.     We 


THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  SIN  165 

may  reason  from  the  one  to  all  the  others.  We 
are  one  in  that  the  elements  of  the  earth  are  found 
to  be  the  elements  of  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars. 
So,  in  earthly  fatherhood  there  are  elements  which 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Heavenly  Fatherhood.  We 
may  bridge  the  gulf  between  the  human  and  the 
divine,  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite,  because 
the  lesser  is  contained  within  the  greater. 

"Father,  forgive  them  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do."  Our  ignorance,  then,  is  directed  against 
our  Heavenly  Father.  We  have  sinned  against 
Him.  But  hoiv  ?  Is  such  a  thing  possible  ?  It  is, 
in  that  the  love  of  God  the  Father,  the  providing 
care  of  God  the  Father,  the  hope  of  God  the  Father 
for  us,  is  the  love,  the  providing  care,  and  the  am- 
bition of  our  earthly  Father  in  ratio  magnified. 
Let  us  look  at  the  matter  humanly:  Your  son 
treats  you  as  though  you  were  dead.  How  would 
you  like  it?  When  he  has  difficulties  he  spreads 
them  broadcast  between  his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances, but  never  comes  to  you  for  counsel.  How 
would  you  like  it  ?  When  he  achieves  success,  he 
enjoys  it  apart  from  you;  and,  when  he  fails,  he 
seeks  reimbursement  and  recreation  apart  from 
your  assistance.  How  would  you  like  it  ?  He  walks 
the  mountain  tops  of  joy,  and  leaves  you  in  the 
valley  beneath ;  and  he  refuses  to  permit  you  to 
be  when  he  sins,  a  partner  in  his  shame.  How 
would  you  like  it  ?    And  does  not  God  the  Father 


166  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

care  ?  He  is  not  a  stone.  He  is  not  an  immovable, 
insensate  sphinx.  He  is  not  a  block  of  impenetrable 
marble,  devoid  of  sense  and  feeling.  He  has  a 
Father's  heart,  and  craves  the  companionship  of 
His  children.  He  has  sight  to  give,  and  longs  to 
bestow  it.  He  has  hearing  to  vouchsafe,  hearing 
susceptible  of  the  interpretation  of  heavenly  voices, 
and  yearns  to  bequeath  it.  He  has  forgiveness  for 
your  sin,  quality  for  your  success,  advice  for  your 
perplexity,  comfort  profound  and  commensurate 
for  your  suffering,  and  asks  to  satisfy  your  de- 
ficiencies with  such  plenitude  of  consolation.  In- 
deed, and  in  truth,  when  we  sin,  we  know  not  what 
we  do.  Why,  if  we  acted  towards  our  earthly 
father  as  we  act  towards  our  Heavenly  Father 
we  would  bring  his  gray  hairs  in  sorrow  to  the 
grave.  This  is  one  of  the  widening  circles  of  the 
consequence  of  sin  outside  our  sight ;  the  effect  of 
transgression  upon  Our  Father  who  is  in  Heaven. 
O  Blessed  Christ,  the  Ever  Existent  Intercessor, 
intercede  for  us  before  the  Father  Thine  age-long 
plea,  "They  know  not  what  they  do." 

(2)  Another  circle  of  the  consequences  of  our 
sins  is  aimed  against  our  brethren:  There  is  no 
such  thing  as  individual  sin;  all  sin  is  social  sin. 
The  individual  is  not  an  integer,  he  is  a  fraction. 
Each  man  is  a  fragment  of  society.  Every  sin 
committed  by  the  one  is  bound  to  affect  the  many. 
Whatever  the  privacy  of  sin,  you  cannot  lock  sin 


THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  SIN  167 

up.  It  is  impossible  to  shut  the  door  of  the  room 
of  our  sin,  and  turn  the  key,  and  leave  the  trans- 
gression there.  Your  secret  sin  as  well  as  your 
public  sin  mars  the  social  fabric.  We  are  limbs, 
not  bodies.  We  are  organs,  not  organisms.  The 
condition  of  the  limb  affects  the  body,  and  the 
health  of  the  organ  affects  the  organism.  You  may 
not  commit  a  sin,  wrap  it  up,  conceal  it  as  you  will 
without  that  sin  tarnishing  your  brethren.  Scott, 
the  Antarctic  hero,  said  that  he  had  to  give  more 
attention  to  the  selection  of  the  men  who  were  to 
compose  his  expedition  than  to  the  equipment  itself, 
because  one  queer  man  engendering  mutiny  might 
destroy  the  entire  venture.  And,  if  this  is  true  in 
the  less,  why  not  in  the  greater?  What  matter 
whether  poison  be  dropped  into  a  gill  or  into  a 
gallon  of  water,  the  analysist  will  detect  it  in  either, 
in  every  drop  of  its  contents.  In  New  York  the 
civic  authorities  forbid  the  consumption  of  soft 
coal,  but  if  one  were  temporarily  to  break  the  law 
and  let  his  chimney  pour  forth  beclouding  smoke, 
to  that  degree  and  extent  the  atmosphere  of  the 
metropolis  would  be  polluted. 

There  is  an  atmosphere  in  the  home.  One 
impure  child  will  defile  that  atmosphere.  There 
is  an  atmosphere  in  the  club ;  one  vicious  man  will 
affect  it  for  evil;  so  much  so  that  his  fellow-mem- 
bers will  wish  him  out  of  the  club.  There  is  an 
atmosphere  in  the  parish.     God  alone  knows  how 


168  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

my  sins  influence  you,  and  how  your  sins  influence 
me.  There  is  an  atmosphere  in  the  community, 
and  in  the  nation,  and  our  sins  will  touch  for  harm 
the  community  and  the  state.  The  effluvia  from 
one  drain  breeds  pestilence.  Have  we  thought 
of  these  things  ?  l^o ;  at  least  we  are  ignorant  of 
the  uttermost  consequences.  "Father,  so  far  as  our 
sins  against  our  brethren  are  concerned,  forgive 
us  for  we  know  not  what  we  do." 

Finally:  the  widening  circle  of  the  consequences 
of  our  sins  affect  not  only  God,  not  only  our 
hrethren,  hut  also  ourselves;  I  cannot  sin  and  not  be 
the  worse  for  that  sin.  That  is  a  rule  that  admits 
of  no  exceptions.  The  trouble  is — that  the  last 
place  in  which  our  sins  are  placarded  is  in  the  flesh. 
Do  we  appreciate  that  ?  The  last  place  in  which 
our  sins  are  advertised  is  in  the  body.  If  every 
time  we  sinned,  we  lost  some  physical  beauty,  if 
every  time  we  sinned,  we  manifested  some  physical 
deformity;  if  every  time  we  sinned,  the  sin  were 
tattooed  upon  our  flesh — how  careful  we  should 
be  not  to  sin.  If  we  could  see  our  sins  at  work  as 
a  wrecker  demolishing  a  house,  first  the  walls,  then 
the  roof,  then  the  foundation,  we  would  be  ob- 
sessed with  terror  at  the  very  appearance  of  evil. 
But  such  is  not  the  case.  A  man  drinks,  drinks, 
drinks,  before  the  results  of  sin  are  physically  ap- 
parent. A  man  lusts  for  many  a  long  day  before 
we  see  the  telltale  story,   as  we  often  do,  upon 


THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  SIN  169 

his  evil  face,  his  shrunken  form,  and  his  vacillating 
limbs.  This  is  true  not  only  of  the  baser  passions, 
but  of  the  dainty  sins  dressed  in  gauzy  draperies 
which  masquerade  as  virtues.  Only  after  long  time 
are  they  evidenced  in  paucity  of  soul  so  pronounced 
that  he  who  runs  may  read  the  imprimatur  upon 
the  flesh.  The  first  result  of  sin  is  aimed  against 
the  spiritual  treasure ;  it  bombards  the  gates  of  the 
Holy  Place,  and  takes  captive  the  sanctities  therein. 
Just  as,  to  take  a  homely  illustration,  if  one  room 
of  your  house  is  overheated  and  you  shut  the  door, 
the  effect  is  not  conspicuous  in  the  roof  and  walls  of 
the  house,  but  the  mischief  is  wrought  within  the 
house  and  room  itself;  perhaps  a  delicate  musical 
instrument  is  irreparably  destroyed,  or  your  beau- 
tiful draperies  are  tarnished,  or  your  tender  plants 
are  killed.  This  is  the  insidiousness  of  sin,  the 
fact  that  the  soul  may  be  lost  before  the  flesh  is 
traced  with  lines  of  disfigurement.  "Gray  hairs 
are  here  and  there  upon  us  and  we  know  it  not." 
We  commit  suicide,  temporal  and  eternal,  and  we 
know  not  what  we  do.  O,  forgive  us,  Heavenly 
Father ;  we  know  not  what  we  do. 

These,  then,  are  the  widening  circles  of  the 
consequences  of  our  sins  aimed  against  our  God, 
our  brethren,  and  ourselves.  Wherein  lies  our  re- 
demption? Think;  think  in  God.  To  think  in 
God  is  to  hold  communion  with  God,  and  to  hold 
communion  with  God  is  prayer.     To  think  in  God 


170  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

is  to  have  our  eyes  anointed  with  eyesalve  that  we 
may  see. 

To  see  in  God  is  to  see  the  whole  road ;  sideways 
as  well  as  straight  ahead;  to  behold  the  collateral 
issues  as  well  as  the  objective.  It  is  to  be  no  longer 
ignorant,  but  filled  with  knowledge.  An  upward 
glance — God.  A  rounded  glance — our  brethren. 
An  inward  glance  —  ourselves.  Lord,  open  our 
eyes  that  we  may  see ! 


FIRST  THINGS  FIRST 
St.  Matt.  6:  33.     "Seek  ye  first." 

IN  speaking  of  the  necessity  of  placing  First 
Things  First  there  is  a  statement  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  which  instinctively 
comes  to  mind :  "But  seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of 
God  and  His  righteousness,  and  all  these  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you."  You  remember  the 
"but"  is  conjunctive  to  what  has  passed  before. 
Our  Lord  has  been  decrying  the  wrong  emphasis 
of  life.  "Lay  not  up  treasures  upon  the  earth," 
"Be  not  anxious  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye 
shall  drink."  He  points  out  where  the  true  empha- 
sis is  to  be  placed.  "Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of 
God  and  His  righteousness,  and  all  these  secondary 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  His  moral  was 
this:  You  are  prone  to  glorify  the  subordinate, 
and  demean  the  essential — put  First  Things  First. 
This  counsel,  as  all  the  counsel  of  Jesus,  partakes 
of  the  Speaker's  Immortality.  The  progress  of 
history  has  but  proved  its  applicability  to  a  per- 


172  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

petuated  fallacy  of  mankind.  The  muddle  of 
humanity  in  the  past;  its  turmoil  in  the  present; 
and  its  prospective  swithering  in  the  future,  is 
rooted  in  an  inherent  defect  of  perspective,  in  a 
seemingly  constitutional  inability  to  magnify  the 
great,  and  minimize  the  little.  Time  and  eternity, 
God  and  mammon,  treasure  upon  earth  and  treas- 
ure in  heaven,  these,  in  all  their  ramifications,  are 
the  abiding  selectives,  and  in  accordance  with  our 
allegiance  so  is  the  intrinsic  success  or  failure  of 
life. 

Our  subject,  then,  is  First  Things  First:  It  is 
interesting  to  look  at  some  historical  personages, 
and  to  see  what  they  considered  to  be  of  preeminent 
importance  in  their  lives. 

Here  is  Martin  Luther:  The  record  of  his  life 
is  known  to  all.  Two  ways  were  set  before  him ; 
the  easy  way — the  way  of  prestige,  the  way  that 
led  to  Rome;  and,  the  difiicult  way — the  way  of 
persecution,  the  road  that  led  to  Geneva;  and  he 
chose  the  difficult  way,  saying:  "Here  stand  I, 
I  can  do  no  other;  so  help  me  God."  Enthroned 
above  all  else  in  his  troubled  life  sat  kingly  con- 
science. 

Here  is  Nathaniel  Hey  wood:  He  was  one  of 
the  two  thousand  clergymen  in  Charles  the  Sec- 
ond's reign  who  gave  up  their  livings  at  the  cate- 
gorical imperative  of  the  inner  voice.  His  parish- 
ioners were  grieved  to  lose  him;  they  gathered 


FIRST  THINGS  FIRST  173 

around  him,  and  urged  him  to  remain ;  they  said : 
"Oh,  Mr.  Heywood,  many  a  man  in  these  days 
makes  a  great  gash  in  his  conscience,  could  you  not 
make  just  a  little  nick  in  yours  ?"  But  the  brave 
man,  uncompromising  in  his  sense  of  duty,  refused 
to  make  so  much  as  a  scratch.  He  placed,  in  the 
sense  of  Christ,  first  things  first. 

Here  is  General  Wolfe  upon  the  Plains  of 
Abraham:  The  story  is  familiar  to  every  Cana- 
dian school  boy ;  it  may  be  more  or  less  familiar  to 
the  children  of  America.  Wolfe  was  wounded, 
lying  upon  the  ground,  with  his  head  reclining 
upon  the  knee  of  an  officer  who  supported  him. 
Around  him  was  the  din  of  battle,  the  smoke  of 
carnage.  Suddenly  some  one  close  at  hand  ejacu- 
lated, "They  run."  "Who  run  ?"  whispered  Gen- 
eral Wolfe.  "The  French,"  came  the  answer. 
Then  Wolfe  ordered,  "Tell  so  and  so  to  march  his 
men  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Charles  to  cut  off  their 
retreat."  After  which  came  the  sigh  of  triumph, 
"I  die  happy."  General  Wolfe  had  set  his  heart 
upon  the  capture  of  Quebec,  he  had  fought  against 
recurrent  fever  which  vitiated  his  physical  health 
all  through  the  long  \vinter  siege,  and  his  ambition 
achieved  he  died  happy.  His  first  thing  first  was 
Quebec  at  all  costs. 

Here  is  Wellington  at  Waterloo:  It  was  an 
anxious  hour  in  the  midst  of  the  battle.  The 
French  were  pressing  hard.      The  English  were 


174  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

beginning  to  waver.  Wellington  sent  a  command 
to  the  colonel  of  a  certain  regiment  to  go  into 
action.  The  colonel  refused;  his  men,  he  said, 
were  too  lightly  armed  to  manipulate  that  particular 
move.  The  answer  was  brought  to  the  general, 
and  his  reply  in  stentorian  tones,  and  with  blaz- 
ing eye,  was  "tell  him  to  march  his  men  off  the 
field."  Even  at  that  moment,  when  the  issue  of 
the  day  was  hanging  in  the  balance,  the  first  thing 
in  the  life  of  a  soldier  was  obedience,  and  the  great 
Wellington  found  time  to  express  the  command, 
"tell  that  insubordinate  officer  to  march  his  men  off 
the  field." 

Here  is  Phillips  Brooks,  a  warrior  of  peace: 
After  leaving  Harvard  he  set  out  to  be  a  school 
teacher.  He  served  in  the  Boston  Latin  School, 
and  placed  before  him  the  ideal  of  instructing  the 
young  in  the  rudiments  of  knowledge.  He  proved 
himself  to  be,  in  this  association,  an  unqualified 
failure.  He  could  maintain  no  semblance  of  order 
and  discipline  among  his  scholars,  big  man  that  he 
was  physically.  The  class  room  was  pandemonium. 
The  experience  cast  him  into  the  depths  of  de- 
spair; but,  it  was  the  minister  of  God  to  him 
for  good.  He  had  placed  first  in  his  life  that 
which,  under  a  different  setting,  ranked  second. 
His  thoughts  were  drawn  to  the  Church.  He  went 
to  Virginia,  and  prepared  for  the  ministry.  In 
one  year  after  his  ordination  his  name  was  known 


FIRST  THINGS  FIRST  175 

throughout  the  ecclesiastical  world  of  the  United 
States,  and,  as  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Advent, 
Philadelphia,  he  received  calls  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific. 

From  this  time  onward  he  had  but  one  ambi- 
tion— to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  All 
his  studies  were  bent  in  that  direction,  and  even 
the  simplest  experiences  of  every  day  life  were 
mainly  important  in  so  far  as  they  catered  to  homi- 
letic  theme  and  illustration.  For  thirty-five  years  he 
prepared,  and  his  preparation  was  most  laborious 
and  systematic,  on  an  average  two  sermons  every 
week,  and  he  became  the  Robertson  of  America,  the 
greatest  preacher  of  his  day  and  generation.  His 
first  thing,  to  which  he  subordinated  all  else,  even 
the  institutional  life  of  his  several  parishes,  was 
to  preach.  With  St.  Paul  he  could  say,  "This  one 
thing  I  do." 

So  much,  then,  with  regard  to  some  of  the 
great  outstanding  figures  of  the  past — Luther,  Hey- 
wood,  Wolfe,  Wellington,  and  Phillips  Brooks. 
Luther  and  Hey  wood  predominated  conscience; 
Wolfe,  the  capture  of  Quebec;  Wellington,  obedi- 
ence ;  and  Phillips  Brooks  the  presentation  of  the 
truth  as  adapted  to  the  assimilation  of  men  and 
women. 

How  is  it  to-day  ?  What  is  the  up-to-date  com- 
mentary upon  the  words,  "Seek  ye  first  the  King- 
dom of  God,  and  His  righteousness?"     Is  it  not 


176  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

true,  with  all  our  boasted  civilization,  with  all  our 
proclaimed  emancipation  from  the  mistakes  of 
remote  and  approximate  antiquity,  that  the  miser- 
ableness  of  humanity  is  due  to  neither  more  nor 
less  than  this — the  fact  that  the  majority  of  men 
and  women  do  not  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
and  His  righteousness,  do  not,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
place  first  things  first  ?  People  are  not  getting  the 
best  out  of  life;  they  are  not  unearthing  the  hid- 
den riches;  they  are  not  making  the  most  of  the 
illimitable  resources  of  personality.  They  are 
striving  for  the  second  rate,  under  the  misappre- 
hension that  the  second  rate  is  the  first  rate,  and 
they  are  resting  in  the  discontent  of  the  subsidiary 
when  they  should  be  revelling  in  the  ecstasy  of  the 
primary.  People  are  laying  up  treasures  upon  the 
earth ;  people  are  anxious  about  food  and  raiment ; 
people  are  endeavoring  to  maintain  a  compromise 
between  God  and  mammon ;  people  are  overwhelm- 
ingly perplexed  about  the  things  of  to-morrow ;  and, 
so,  they  have  forgotten,  or  they  are  in  a  fair  way 
to  forget,  the  clarion  importunity  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God. 

We  must  remember,  of  course,  and  we  are  per- 
sistently reminded  of  the  fact  to-day,  that  life  is 
many  sided ;  that  life  has  many  phases.  Man  is  a 
religious  animal,  but  the  animal  means  that  he  is 
not  all  soul.  There  is  the  physical,  the  mental,  the 
social,  as  well  as  the  spiritual  constituent  of  per- 


FIRST  THINGS  FIRST  177 

sonality.  It  is  claimed  that  the  Church,  through 
her  ministers,  forgets  this  complexity  of  man,  and 
that  she  would  transform  the  week  into  one  pro- 
longed Sabbath.  I  deny  this  allegation.  This  is 
the  age,  whether  we  are  appreciative  of  the  fact 
or  no,  of  institutionalized  Christianity.  The  whole 
man,  muscle,  brain,  heart,  and  soul,  is  being  ap- 
pealed to.  The  house  influences  the  synagogue 
about  as  much  as  the  synagogue  influences  the 
house.  But,  whether  the  Church  is  or  is  not  blind 
to  the  myriad  sidedness  of  life,  Jesus  Christ  was 
not.  Not  alone  by  His  preaching,  but  also  by  His 
living.  He  showed  the  profuse  and  the  diffuse  rich- 
ness of  existence,  and  the  legitimacy  of  the  flesh 
as  well  as  the  legitimacy  of  the  spirit.  He  did  not 
deny  the  right  of  the  minor  things,  and  absorb 
them  in  the  exclusive  pursuit  of  the  major.  He 
simply  asserted  that  the  minor  things  are  minor 
things,  and  the  true  proportion  of  life  is  to  be 
achieved  by  placing  first  things  first.  "Seek  ye 
first  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  His  righteousness, 
and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  "All 
these  things"  would  not  be  added  if  they  were 
wrong.  The  whole  difficulty  is  the  difficulty  of 
false  emphasis. 

Let  us  see  it  in  the  world  around  us  to-day: 
There  is  over-emphasized  athleticism.  It  has  been 
said  that  if  the  sporting  columns  were  eliminated 
from  our  daily  papers  many  of  our  young  men 


178  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

would  soon  forget  how  to  read!  There  is  truth 
and  humor  in  equal  doses  in  this  assertion.  The 
Germans  say  that  they  like  sport,  but  dislike  games. 
It  is  a  neat  distinction,  but  there  is  a  well-defined 
difference.  Shooting  is  sport ;  fishing  is  sport ;  but, 
baseball  and  track  athletics  come  under  the  caption 
of  games.  We  are  on  this  continent  of  America 
game  mad.  To  run  is  not  the  end  of  life ;  to  catch 
a  ball  is  not  the  sine  qua  non  of  existence !  Let  us 
have  sport,  let  us  have  games,  by  all  means  let  us 
have  both,  but  let  us  withal  pay  homage  to  common 
sense.  We  must  have  sound  minds  in  sound  bodies, 
but  athleticism  is  only  important  in  so  far  as  being, 
in  moderation,  conducive  to  health  it  fits  a  man 
for  the  work  of  life.  There  are  those  who  in  effect 
parody  the  words  of  Christ,  "Seek  ye  first  muscle, 
nimbleness  of  limb,  soundness  of  wind,  and  let  the 
Kingdom  of  God  look  after  itself." 

There  is  over-emphasized  scholasticism:  The 
mind  is  an  important  part  of  our  composition,  but 
it  is  not  by  any  means  the  most  important  part. 
The  scholar  may  be,  and,  as  a  matter  of  experience, 
frequently  is,  a  fool,  and  it  is  infinitely  better  to 
possess  a  loving  heart  than  it  is  to  be  the  owner  of  a 
well-stored  brain.  But,  how  many  students  owe 
allegiance  to  the  fallacy  that  the  goal  of  life  is  to 
excel  as  a  student.  I  knew  many  such  at  the  uni- 
versity. They  over  applied  themselves  at  their 
studies,  they  attended  lectures  with  the  assiduity 


FIRST  THINGS  FIRST  179 

of  a  leech  absorbing  the  life  blood  of  its  victim, 
they  whispered  in  epigram,  and  spoke  in  grandilo- 
quent bombast,  they  stayed  up  late  of  nights,  and 
burned  the  midnight  oil  to  streak  of  dawn.  The 
triumphant  result  was  that  some  of  them  passed 
record  examinations,  and  were  spoken  of  by  de- 
lighted professors  as  "coming  men."  Where  are 
they  all  to-day?  I  am  watching  for  their  "com- 
ing" !  Some  few  have  done  well ;  some  have  died 
from  the  effects  of  over-taxed  constitutions  (I  could 
tell  you  one  or  two  pathetic  stories  under  that  head- 
ing) ;  some  are  the  most  uninteresting  and  devital- 
ized mortals  with  whom  it  has  ever  been  my  mis- 
fortune to  meet,  and  most  of  them  have  ceased  to  be 
"coming  men",  and  have  buried  their  prophetic 
glory  within  the  walls  of  their  revered  alma  mater. 
The  world  cannot  get  along  without  scholarship, 
that  is  granted,  but,  it  is  well  to  realize  the  other 
side  of  the  matter,  for  there  is  another  side,  and 
to  appreciate  that  in  the  assimilation  of  knowl- 
edge as  in  all  else  there  is  the  happy  medium. 
"Seek  ye  first  learning;  it  is  the  one  thing  need- 
ful ;  and  leave  character  and  understanding  to  the 
unfoldment  of  opportunity."  This  is  not  only 
wrong,  but  short  sighted  folly. 

There  is  the  over-emphasis  of  wealth:  It  is  a 
threadbare  platitude  to-day  to  assert  that  this  is 
"a  materialistic  age."  I  believe  that  to  be  but  a 
half  truth.    This  is  a  materialistic  age,  and  it  is  not 


180  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

a  materialistic  age.  This  age  has  all  the  charm 
of  antithesis,  or  rather,  antitheses,  and  all  the 
fascination  of  contrast.  It  is  this,  and  it  is  that, 
and  it  is  the  other  thing,  all  in  one.  It  is  hard  to 
deny,  however,  that  with  many  the  standard  of 
life's  judgments  is  based  upon  wealth,  and  with 
many  the  one  thing  worth  seeking  is  money. 
Money,  money,  money — it  is  not  only  in  our  hands, 
and  in  our  pockets  (where  it  does  not  stay  for  any 
appreciable  length  of  time),  but  it  is  in  the  air. 
The  sun  is  an  emblazoned  gold  piece,  the  moon 
is  a  silver  dollar,  and  the  very  stars  of  heaven 
above  us  are  coins  of  currency  of  diminishing 
denominations.  These  are  those  who  can  think  of 
nothing  else  save  Money :  there  are  those  who  speak 
of  nothing  else  save  Money;  and  there  are  those 
who  degenerate  life  into  one  colossal  pursuit  for 
Money.  It  is  so  horribly  vulgar  on  the  lowest 
grounds,  and  it  is  so  pitifully  pathetic  on  the 
highest  grounds.  Were  we  not  so  commercially 
absorbed  in  this  new  country  we  should  realize 
this  money  getting,  this  money  grabbing,  this 
money  grubbing,  and  this  money  spending  to  be 
the  most  ludicrous  and  humiliating  parody  of  life 
ever  perpetrated  upon  humanity  by  the  author  of 
all  iniquity.  Who  is  intrinsically  the  better  for 
money,  and  who  is  intrinsically  the  worse  for  the 
want  of  money  ?  Come,  let  us  reason  together,  and 
season  our  reasoning  with  a  slight  modicum  of 


FIRST  THINGS  FIRST  181 

humor.  Whose  wisdom  is  accentuated  by  the 
possession  of  money,  and  whose  foolishness  is 
alleviated  by  its  accumulation  ?  Are  you  more  of  a 
man  than  I  am  because  you  have  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year,  and  am  I  considerably  less  of 
a  man  because  I  have  only  a  fraction  of  that 
amount?  Why,  I  have  met  numskull  million- 
aires, and  Aristotelian  paupers,  and  vice  versa. 

A  friend  of  mine  returned  from  western  Can- 
ada last  summer,  and  said :  "I  have  been  through 
Manitoba  and  Saskatchewan.  The  wheat  is  won- 
derful, the  flowing,  glowing  fields  rippling  in  the 
summer  wind,  are  golden  to  the  harvest.  The 
wealth  of  a  nation  trembles  in  the  balance.  The 
next  ten  days  will  decide  whether  or  no  the  crop 
of  1916  is  a  record  crop."  Good  God — yes,  good 
God,  the  situation  demands  strong  expression — 
what  has  the  wheat  crop  to  do  with  the  innate  worth 
of  the  citizens  of  Canada  ?  "The  Kingdom  of  God, 
and  His  righteousness"  is  the  backbone,  the  spinal 
column  of  a  nation,  and,  if  this  is  intact,  and  recog- 
nized, and  lived,  why,  then,  harvests  may  come  and 
go  in  their  plenty  or  in  their  paucity,  and  the  nation 
stands  four  square  to  all  the  winds  that  blow. 

What  does  it  mean  to  place  money  first  among 
the  objects  of  our  life's  ambition  ?  I  will  tell  you 
a  true  story  of  what  it  meant  to  one  man.  He  was 
bom  of  lowly  parentage,  on  a  farm.  As  a  boy  he 
was  methodical  in  all  his  ways,  and  more  acquisi- 


182  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

tive  than  his  fellows  with  regard  to  the  pennies 
that  fell  to  his  portion.  He  was  a  plodder,  and, 
as  he  grew  older  determined  that  come  what  might 
he  would  make  money  before  he  died.  At  the  age 
of  twenty  he  bought  a  small  farm;  to  this  in  ten 
years'  time  he  added  two  larger  farms.  Then  an 
opportunity  for  advantageous  sale  presenting  itself 
he  sold  all  that  he  possessed  for  large  profit,  and 
started  in  business  for  himself  in  a  neighboring 
town.  There  he  prospered  abundantly,  but,  the 
day  came  when,  under  the  advice  of  a  leading 
citizen  of  his  community,  he  placed  all  his  savings 
in  a  propitious  undertaking.  The  undertaking 
went  to  pieces;  the  man  from  comparative  afflu- 
ence was  reduced  to  straitened  circumstances. 
Imagine  his  feelings ;  the  bottom  had  literally  fallen 
out  of  his  life ;  he  had  nothing  left  to  live  for.  He 
had  devoted  himself  body  and  soul  to  the  acquisi- 
tion of  money ;  toward  the  accomplishment  of  that 
end  he  had  sacrificed  all  else ;  and  when  his  money 
was  carried  away  all  his  interest  in  living  went 
with  it.  His  First  Thing  First  foundered,  and  he 
was  a  hopeless  derelict,  drifting  uselessly  upon  the 
waters  of  existence.  Finding  it  no  longer  possible 
to  bear  the  burden  of  emptiness,  the  man  placed  a 
pistol  to  his  head,  and  blew  his  money-saturated 
brains  out.  "We  brought  nothing  into  this  world, 
and  it  is  certain  that  we  can  carry  nothing  out," 
and  neither  bank  deposits,  nor  stocks,  nor  reliable 


FIRST  THINGS  FIRST  183 

mortgages,  nor  hard  cash,  will  give  a  man  peace  at 
the  last.  That  is  a  woeful  platitude,  is  it  not,  and 
yet  like  so  many  platitudes  it  is  uncomfortably 
true ! 

'No;  neither  athleticism,  nor  wealth,  nor 
scholastic  attainments,  are  worthy  of  preeminent 
emphasis.  As  paramount  objects  of  desire  they 
prove  to  be  but  empty  satisfactions.  It  behooves  us, 
then,  does  it  not,  to  look  within;  to  importune  our 
inner  consciousness  with  this  imperative  interroga- 
tion, "What  is  the  thing  that  I  am  placing  first  in 
my  life ;  what  is  it  that  holds  the  premier  position, 
around  which  all  my  interests  are  centered  ?"  and, 
then,  through  honest  analysis  to  reach  this  conclu- 
sion, "I  must  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness." 

What  is  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  right- 
eousness ?  It  is  difficult  to  define ;  but,  we  learn  how 
to  seek  it  from  a  study  of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ. 
He  was  conscious  of  the  all  compelling  motive  of 
life  from  the  beginning.  He  sensed  it  when  at  the 
age  of  twelve  He  said,  "Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be 
about  My  Father's  business  ?"  It  was  the  same 
thing  later  on  when  He  said,  "I  am  come  not  to  do 
mine  own  will  but  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me." 
It  was  the  same  thing  later  still  when  He  said, 
"We  go  up  to  Jerusalem,"  when  He  set  His  face 
steadfastly  toward  a  mighty  consummation.  It  was 
the  same  thing  in  the  garden  when  He  cried,  "Not 


184  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

My  will,  but  Thine  be  done."  Then  finally  He  was 
aware  of  its  fulfilment  when  upon  the  cross  He 
cried  in  paean  of  victory,  "It  is  finished."  Now, 
what  for  Jesus  was,  and  so  what  for  us  is,  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness  ?  Surely 
this,  whatever  else  beside,  attention  to  the  needs 
of  others.  Jesus  was  forever  taking  a  personal 
interest  in  people.  He  was  never  too  occupied  to 
comfort  the  individual  in  sorrow ;  to  advise  him 
in  perplexity ;  to  deal  in  ameliorative  consolation 
for  the  sinner;  to  care  for  the  sick,  and,  on  occa- 
sion, to  raise  the  dead.  He  was  concentrated  upon 
the  wholesale  redemption  of  humanity,  but  He 
ever  had  time  to  attend  to  the  individual  by  the 
roadside.  To  save  the  world,  and,  to  save  men, 
that  was  for  Jesus  Christ,  whatever  else  beside, 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  His  righteousness. 

Should  not  this  be  the  superlative  motive  of 
our  lives  ?  Brotherliness ;  fraternal  interest ;  self- 
less absorption  in  the  needs  of  the  necessitous ; 
that  is  the  Kingdom  of  God ;  that  is  the  pursuance 
of  His  righteousness;  and  that  is  the  secret  of  a 
life,  be  it  delicate,  or  ignorant,  or  poor,  which  is 
rich  with  the  richness  of  advancing  time,  and  with 
the  treasures  of  an  ever  accumulating  eternity. 

The  field  for  operation  is  as  large  as  oppor- 
tunity, and  the  opportunity  is  limited  by  life  it- 
self. There  is  the  home,  the  ofiice,  the  shop,  the 
factory,  the  street,  and  there  is  society,  and,  above 


FIRST  THINGS  FIRST  185 

all  else,  there  is  the  Church.  "Whilst  we  have 
time  let  us  do  good  unto  all  men,  hut  especially 
unto  them  that  are  of  the  Household  of  Faith." 

Yes ;  in  seeking  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  His 
righteousness,  we  are  to  take  Jesus  as  the  guide 
of  our  lives.  He  is  to  be  our  pattern  and  example 
in  this  mighty  business  of  putting  first  things  first. 
We  may  not  literally  follow  in  His  footsteps,  but 
we  must  assimilate  His  Spirit. 

On  all  the  big  ocean  liners  they  have  two  com- 
passes. One  is  on  the  captain's  bridge,  near  the 
center  of  navigating  activity.  Here  stands  the 
helmsman,  and  the  officer  upon  duty,  and  here, 
from  time  to  time,  gather  the  responsible  men  to 
make  their  observations,  and  to  regulate  the  course 
of  the  ship.  The  other  compass  is  upon  the  mast, 
near  the  crow's  nest,  where  the  life  of  the  vessel 
never  penetrates,  and  where  all  deflecting  influ- 
ences are  far  removed.  This  is  the  infallible  com- 
pass. In  times  of  emergency,  when  doubt  as  to 
position  has  arisen,  or  when  danger  is  presumably 
near  at  hand,  someone  is  sent  aloft  to  read  this 
second  compass,  and  by  its  readings  the  other  com- 
pass is  fortified  or  disproved  in  its  conclusions. 

Circumstances  demand  that  we  should  be  our 
own  compass  bearers.  In  the  exigencies  of  daily 
life  we  have  to  be  our  own  court  of  appeal.  But, 
amid  the  turmoil  of  existence,  and,  above  all,  in 
the  crises  of  our  days  we  are  not  sufficient  unto 


186  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

ourselves.  Our  wills  are  governed,  and  our  con- 
sciences deflected,  by  the  importunities  of  things 
around  us.  Then,  if,  with  undeviating  course,  we 
would  seek  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  His  right- 
eousness, we  must  have  reference  to  our  Infallible 
Guide ;  conscience,  illuminated  by  the  Standard  of 
the  Life  of  Jesus  Christ.  Only  so  may  we  place 
first  things  first. 


JUDAS  ISCARIOT 

St.  John  12:5.     "Why  was  not  this  ointment  sold  for 
three  hundred  pence,  and  given  to  the  poor?" 

THESE  are,  upon  the  face  of  them,  fair  and 
pleasing  words.  They  are  the  words  of  a  phil- 
anthropist, and  a  benefactor;  of  a  preacher,  and 
a  humanitarian.  They  arouse  our  admiration,  and 
applause.  But,  alas — the  voice  is  the  voice  of 
Judas,  and  we  have  been  led  to  think  hard  things 
about  Judas.  Let  us,  then,  give  to  Judas  to-day 
the  conventional  interpretation ;  let  us  paint  him 
in  the  colors,  the  orthodox  colors,  in  which  he  has 
been  portrayed  for  centuries. 

"Why  was  not  the  ointment  sold  for  three  hun- 
dred pence,  and  given  to  the  poor  ?"  A  specious 
utterance,  but  the  apostles  appraised  it  for  what  it 
was  worth.  In  the  next  verse  we  read  St.  John's 
commentary  upon  the  episode :  "this  he  said  not  be- 
cause he  cared  for  the  poor ;  but  because  he  was  a 
thief,  and  carried  the  bag."  Judas  was  becoming 
conscious  of  his  own  motives,  and  so  was  surprised 


188  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

into  saying  more  than  lie  meant.  He  is  aware  that 
his  motives  are  becoming  apparent  to  his  brother 
disciples,  and  so  he  speaks  magnanimously  in 
order  to  throw  dust  in  their  eyes. 

The  position  of  Judas  is  incongruous.  He  is 
altogether  out  of  his  element.  The  simple  minded 
apostles  are  arrant  fools  in  his  worldly  estimation. 
Their  childlike  devotion  to  Jesus  is  getting  upon 
his  nerves.  There  is  too  much  heavenliness  about 
an  earthly  proposition  to  suit  his  taste.  Too  much 
emotionalistic  sentimentality,  and  too  little  prac- 
tical common  sense.  The  others  are  content  to 
listen  to  the  Master's  words,  and  to  bask  in  the 
sunshine  of  His  dreamy  presence,  and  to  seek 
nothing  tangible  for  their  services.  Not  so  with 
Judas.  He  is  too  much  a  man  of  business  to  be 
satisfied  with  unremunerative  visions.  The  pres- 
ent opportunity  is  real,  and  must  be  grasped.  The 
unknown  future  may  take  care  of  itself.  He  has 
his  dreams,  but  they  are  dreams  of  material  great- 
ness, and  of  visible  results.  He  has  determined  to 
make  the  most  of  his  position  as  treasurer,  and  he 
will  at  a  future  and  convenient  season  force  the 
hand  of  Jesus,  and  compel  Him  to  ascend  the 
Throne  of  Israel. 

As  the  disciples  grow  better,  and  increase  in 
godliness,  he  grows  worse  and  increases  in  evil. 
For  the  present,  however,  he  must  keep  up  appear- 
ances, and  maintain  his  attitude  of  the  self-less 


JUDAS  ISCARIOT  189 

enthusiast.  This  act  of  a  shortsighted  woman  is 
most  trying  on  his  patience.  It  is  such  a  waste 
of  good  money ;  money  that  might  have  found  its 
way  into  his  pocket ;  but  at  all  costs  he  must  lead 
the  bystanders  to  imagine  that  his  thoughts  are 
focussed  upon  the  well-being  of  the  poor.  "All 
this,"  he  cries  in  seemingly  righteous  indignation, 
"might  have  been  sold  for  three  hundred  pence, 
and  given  to  the  poor".  A  wretched  man  Judas ; 
verily  an  impossible  person;  full  worthy  of  the 
opprobrium  that  has  ever  been  heaped  upon  his 
devoted  head. 

Now,  what  is  the  application?  The  post  of 
treasurer,  or  secretary  of  any  club,  or  organization 
is  an  honorable  one.  It  is  a  position  of  trust  im- 
posed upon  a  man  through  the  confidence  of  his 
fellow-men.  It  is  the  last  office  in  the  world,  how- 
ever, for  any  man  to  seek  who  has  a  tendency  toward 
dishonesty.  We  should  study  our  own  proclivities ; 
we  should  come  through  introspective  study  to 
know  ourselves;  and  so  avoid  the  possibility  of 
moral  disaster.  It  is  an  unwise  thing  for  a  man 
who  cannot  swim  to  throw  himself  into  the  sea  if 
he  desires  to  live.  The  man  with  tendencies  toward 
insobriety  should  never  serve  behind  a  bar!  and 
yet,  how  many  men  ruthlessly  put  themselves  in 
the  way  of  temptation.  I  have  known  youths  who 
were  susceptible  to  the  influence  of  sex  embrace 
the  ministry  as  a  profession.     The  one  profession 


190  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

of  all  professions  where  the  sensualist  may,  if  he 
will,  come  into  his  damnatory  own !  Judas  should 
have  known  his  weaknesses  better  than  to  have 
consented  to  act  as  treasurer  when  the  suffrages  of 
the  Twelve  singled  him  out  for  such  a  post. 

Then  again :  anyone  who  is  connected  with  the 
financial  side  of  Church  life  knows  how  desperately 
hard  it  is  to  get  the  major  number  of  people  in  a 
congregation  to  take  a  monetary  interest  in  foreign 
missions.  So  many  people  say,  and  they  say  it  with 
a  seraphic  smile,  and  with  a  look  of  wisdom  that 
would  make  a  philosopher  blush  with  envj,  "the 
money  might  be  better  spent  upon  the  heathen  at 
home."  This  they  say  not  because  they  really 
care  one  iota  for  the  heathen  at  home ;  not  because 
they  would  willingly  dedicate  an  evening  to  the 
conversion  of  a  skeptic  in  the  neighboring  block ; 
but  merely  because  calling  themselves  Christians 
they  seek  to  evade  a  Christian's  paramount  obli- 
gation !  The  money  that  might  have  been  given 
for  the  furtherance  of  Christ's  kingdom  in  Zulu- 
land  never  gladdens  a  home  in  the  city  of  Cleve- 
land. It  is  spent,  as  was  ever  intended,  upon 
self!  I  know  a  bishop  who  is  obsessed  with  the 
idea  that  he  is  the  instrument  under  God  to  create 
a  Cathedral  for  his  diocese.  To  this  end  his  labors 
have  been  almost  exclusively  directed.  But  do 
you  suppose  that  his  influential  laity  sympathize 
with  him  in  his  ambition — sympathize  with  him 


JUDAS  ISCARIOT  191 

to  the  point  of  munificent  donations  ?  Not  for  a 
moment.  "The  money  that  you  want  for  a  Cathe- 
dral", they  say,  "should  be  collected  as  a  fund  for 
the  improvement  of  the  salaries  of  your  underpaid 
clergy."  Has  such  a  fund  been  instituted  ?  Yes. 
But  little  if  any  money  has  been,  or  is  ever  likely 
to  be,  collected.  The  influential  laity  talk  this  way 
not  because  they  care  for  the  impecunious  parsons ; 
but  simply  because  they  have  their  money,  and  they 
want  to  keep  it ! 

So,  often  you  hear  people  deprecating  the  advis- 
ability, and  even  the  morality,  of  giving  money  for 
the  beautifying  of  the  House  of  God.  "Why  is 
not  the  money  spent  upon  hospitals,  and  play- 
grounds, and  for  the  furtherance  of  the  work  of  the 
Associated  Charities,"  they  say.  But  this  they 
say  not  because  they  self-sacrificingly  care  for  hos- 
pitals, or  playgrounds,  or  the  Associated  Charities ; 
but  because  money  given  in  gratitude  to  Almighty 
God  for  blessings  received  seems  to  their  commer- 
cialized minds  to  be  money  wasted. 

O,  the  selfish,  grudging  spirit  that  entrenches 
itself  behind  high  sounding  phraseology  and  lofty 
sentiments  which  cost  nothing  beyond  the  breath 
that  gives  them  life — beware  of  it,  my  friends. 
It  is  the  hall  mark  of  the  modern,  present  day, 
Judas  Iscariot.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  serving 
God;  and  there  is  such  a  thing  as  satisfying  the 
insatiable  ego. 


192  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Finally :  Anyone  who  has  been  the  recipient 
of  heartbroken  confessions  realizes  that  the  worst 
experience  known  to  the  individual  is  to  have  a 
sin  between  oneself  and  God — a  sin  unknown  to 
relatives,  and  associates,  and  friends.  To  live  in 
a  pure  home,  and  to  be  oneself  secretly  impure. 
To  be  treated  as  an  equal  and  p.  Christian ;  and  yet 
to  be  utterly  unworthy  of  confidence.  To  be  re- 
spected by  one's  employers  in  business,  and  yet 
to  be  guilty  of  peculation  on  the  sly.  All  this  is 
to  be  encompassed  with  the  very  pains  of  hell. 
Who  may  fathom  the  feelings  of  Judas  in  his  saner 
moments — with  the  dark  sin  of  dishonesty  upon 
his  conscience,  and  surrounded  by  the  transparent 
integrity  of  his  fellow-disciples?  Let  us  walk 
the  straight  and  narrow  path ;  for  verily  such  pro- 
cedure not  only  gives  a  man  peace  at  the  last,  but 
peace  all  the  time. 

Judas,  then,  still  lives.  He  is  not  merely  a 
figure  of  ancient  history.  Judas  still  lives — Judas 
with  his  easily  spoken  plausibilities ;  with  his  covet- 
ous heart;  and  with  his  hidden  iniquity.  Let  us 
see  to  it  that  Judas  does  not  live  in  us. 


STEWARDSHIP 

I  Cor.  4:  2.     "It  is  required  in  stewards  that  a  man  be 
found  faithful." 

IN  his  old  age  Daniel  Webster  was  asked  by  a 
friend,  "What  is  the  greatest  thought  that  has 
ever  crossed  your  mind?"  Webster  sat  in  silence 
for  a  space,  knit  his  brows  together  in  meditation, 
and  then  looking  up  into  the  face  of  his  interro- 
gator, made  reply,  "In  my  whole  lifetime  the  great- 
est thought  that  has  ever  crossed  my  mind  is  this : 
'the  thought  of  my  individual  responsibility  to 
God'." 

Our  Individual  Responsibility  to  God.  The 
Bible  is  full  of  it ;  it  runs  as  a  golden  thread  from 
Genesis  to  Revelation. 

In  the  Old  Testament,  at  the  very  beginning, 
we  have  the  story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden.  Man  was 
placed  in  the  favored  spot  as  an  overseer  of  the 
Almighty;  as  a  caretaker  of  the  Agricultural 
Elysium ;  but,  Adam  and  Eve  abused  their  steward- 
ship, and  expulsion  was  the  price  of  misused  priv- 
ilege.   There  is  the  account  of  the  flood.     Sin  was 


194  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

rife,  the  creature  liad  forgotten  bis  subserviency 
to  the  legitimate  Over  Lordship  of  the  Creator; 
the  means  had  been  substituted  for  the  ends  of  life. 
Man,  in  his  own  estimation,  was  no  longer  a  stew- 
ard, but  a  possessor.  Existence  had  degenerated 
into  a  playground  for  the  deportment  of  self- 
gratification.  The  result  was  a  wholesale  deluge 
in  which  only  those  who  acknowledged  the  King- 
ship of  Jehovah  were  saved. 

There  were  the  Prophets:  A  succession  of 
mighty  men  raised  up  to  recall  the  unstable 
Israelites  to  a  sense  of  their  obligations  to  the  God 
who  had  selected  them  to  be  His  Chosen  People. 
The  message  of  these  prophets,  whatever  the  form 
of  its  expression,  whatever  the  respective  circum- 
stances under  which  it  was  delivered,  was  simply 
this:  "you  are  servants,  not  masters;  lessees,  not 
lessors.  God  is  a  jealous  God;  render  Him  under 
fear  of  destruction  His  lawful  dues." 

In  the  New  Testament  ive  are  under  the  domain 
of  the  same  idea :  Man  is  a  steward ;  all  that  he 
has,  all  that  he  is,  belongs  to  God.  What  he  pos- 
sesses is  possessed  in  trust  for  another.  He  is 
utterly  deficient  in  propriety  rights;  he  is  the 
tenant,  another  is  the  Landlord,  The  Parables  are 
saturated  with  this  theme ;  a  man's  individual  re- 
sponsibility to  God.  Witness  the  Parable  of  the 
Unjust  Steward,  and  the  Parable  of  the  Pounds. 
And  this  thought  is  not  merely  bare  and  absolute ; 


STEWARDSHIP  195 

it  is  amplified  and  relative.  For  that  which  a 
man  has  in  trust  he  must  some  day  render  an  ex- 
plicit statement.  As  steward  he  is  ultimately  to 
be  called  upon  for  a  complete  and  detailed  ac- 
count. In  the  picture  of  the  last  judgment,  when 
the  agelong  multitudes  are  gathered  together  at  the 
great  Assize,  and  the  Judge  the  irrefutable  arbiter 
of  merit  and  demerit  is  seated  upon  the  throne,  the 
ultimate  destiny  of  man  is  based  upon  the  use 
that  the  individual  has  made  of  opportunity.  The 
bestowal  of  heaven  or  hell  resides  in  the  words, 
"Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it,  and  inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
not." 

And,  not  only  Christ's  Words,  hut  also  His 
Work,  not  only  His  Preaching,  hut  the  incidents 
of  His  Ministry,  emphasize  the  same  conception. 
He  spake  with  authority  and  not  as  the  scribes. 
He  made  fundamental  claims  with  no  appearance 
of  affectation,  but  in  an  attitude  of  indisputable 
sincerity.  He  walks  along  the  shores  of  Galilee 
and  sees  three  fishermen,  James  and  John,  and 
their  father  Zebedee,  in  a  boat,  mending  their  nets, 
and  He  says,  "Follow  me,  and  I  will  make  you  to 
become  Fishers  of  Men."  How  could  such  a  com- 
mand escape  impertinence ;  to  call  upon  two  sons 
in  the  presence  of  their  father  to  abandon  their 
accepted  vocation  for  another  ?  The  only  apology 
is  this :  Christ  was  the  Owner  of  their  lives,  and 
the  earthly  parent  was  at  best  a  Viceroy. 


1%     THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

He  passes  on  further,  and  He  sees  a  man 
named  Levi  sitting  at  the  Receipt  of  Custom.  He 
looks  into  his  eyes ;  He  beckons  with  His  hand, 
and  issues  His  command,  "Follow  me,"  "leave 
your  ill  gotten  gains,  the  spoils  that  you  have  ac- 
cumulated through  unpatriotic  specialization ;  for- 
sake immediately  a  lucrative  vocation,  and  follow 
me."  He  is  the  Owner  of  that  man's  life,  and  all 
that  he  has  is  to  be  employed  in  His  service.  In- 
stances such  as  these  are  multiplied  in  the  Gospel 
narrative.  Jesus  ministered  to  men,  to  the  sinful 
and  the  sick,  to  the  sorrowful,  and  even  to  those 
whom  He  quickened  from  the  dead,  upon  the  under- 
lying presumption,  brooking  no  denial,  that  the 
individual,  and  all  that  he  or  she  possessed,  be- 
longed to  Him.  Ownership  upon  the  one  side,  and 
stewardship  upon  the  other  side ;  that  is  the  em- 
blazoned shield  upon  which  is  engraven  the 
rationale  of  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ. 

Wherein  is  the  claim  of  ownership  justified? 

(1)  In  that  God  created  maji,  and  in  His 
Image:  The  demands  engendered  by  this  fact  are 
illustrated  by  that  particular  occasion  when  the 
Herodians  and  the  Pharisees  conspired  together  by 
subtlety  to  entangle  Jesus  in  His  talk.  They  pro- 
pound a  query  which  they  consider  to  be  unanswer- 
able. Rubbing  their  hands  in  gleeful  expectation 
of  confounding  the  youthful  pretender  they  ask 
the  question :    "Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  unto 


STEWARDSHIP  197 

Caesar,  or  not?"  If  He  says  "jes,"  then  He 
satisfies  the  Herodians,  at  the  expense  of  the  enmity 
of  the  Pharisees.  If  He  says  "no,"  then  He  throws 
in  His  lot  with  the  Pharisees,  and  incurs  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Herodians.  Christ  escapes  the 
dilemma.  He  asks  for  a  penny.  He  holds  it  up 
to  the  light,  and  pointing  with  His  finger  to  the 
image  and  superscription,  asks,  "Whose  head  is 
that  ?"  They  answer,  "Caesar's  head."  And  he 
replies,  "Render,  therefore,  unto  Caesar  the  things 
that  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that 
are  God's."  In  other  words,  "This  piece  of  money 
is  Caesar's,  because  it  is  marked  with  his  mark, 
and  you  are  God's  because  you  bear  His  simili- 
tude." 

(2)  The  Oivnership  of  God  is  justified  in  that 
our  very  sustenance  is  a  gift  of  the  Divine:  We 
toil  for  livelihood.  The  farmer  sows  and  reaps, 
the  laborer  digs  and  enjoys,  the  mechanic  manipu- 
lates and  executes,  the  artisan  strives  and  ac- 
complishes, the  merchant  plans  and  prosecutes,  the 
professional  man  schemes  and  puts  his  theory  into 
practice,  and  we  speak  of  the  rewards  of  industry, 
and  claim  these  rewards  as  our  own  possession. 
But  the  very  talents  that  enable  production  be- 
long to  God,  "unto  one  He  gave  five  talents,  to 
another  two,  and  to  another  one."  Moreover,  the 
very  results  are  within  His  gift  of  bestowal.  "The 
earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof;  the 


198  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills."  "The  silver  and  the 
gold  are  mine." 

(3)  God  owns  because  He  redeems:  We  had 
wandered  from  the  narrow  way  that  leads  into  the 
Kingdom ;  we  had  reached  the  far  country,  sepa- 
rated from  the  Father's  house ;  we  were  immersed 
in  a  parody  of  life,  sunk  fathoms  deep  in  a  cari- 
cature of  opportunity,  and  then,  "God  so  loved 
the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  Begotten  Son  to 
the  end  that  all  who  believe  in  Him  should  not 
perish."  That  is  the  historical  fact  of  wholesale 
redemption.  Then  there  is  the  perpetuated  in- 
dividual application,  "If  any  man  sin  we  have  an 
advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ,  and  He  is 
the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  That  is  to  say  we 
are  no  longer  our  own,  we  are  bought  with  a  price, 
"We  are,  therefore,  to  glorify  God  in  our  bodies 
which  are  God's."  So,  in  creation,  in  maintenance, 
and  in  salvation,  we  are  God's ;  and,  thus,  in  per- 
sonality, in  wealth,  and  in  grace,  our  office  is 
that  of  stewards. 

''It  is  required  among  stewards  that  a  man  he 
found  faithful."  The  demand  of  stewardship  is 
faithfulness.  Thank  God  that  the  emphasis  is 
placed  there.  We  are  not  called  upon  to  be  suc- 
cessful stewards,  nor  clever  stewards,  nor  resource- 
ful stewards.  Some  could  be  one  or  the  other; 
a  few  could  be  all  three;  but  the  preponderating 
majority  of  men  and  women  could  be  neither.    We 


STEWARDSHIP  199 

are  to  be  faithful  stewards.  This  gives  us  all  a 
chance.  It  places  the  employee  upon  the  same 
plane  with  the  employer;  the  servant  upon  the 
same  plane  with  her  mistress ;  the  stupid  man  upon 
the  same  platform  with  the  scholar.  God  expects 
faithfulness  in  the  individual  life.  There  is  to  be 
a  square  between  aptitude  and  opportunity,  be- 
tween capacity  and  circumstances. 

God  expects  faithfulness  in  the  home:  Above 
all  else  it  seems  to  me  that  this  is  required  to-day. 
The  problems  of  our  streets  would  be  minimized 
if  parents  were  true  to  their  trust.  Girls  go  wrong, 
and  boys  are  bestial,  largely  owing  to  lack  of  pa- 
rental supervision.  Where  in  purity's  name  are  the 
mothers  and  the  fathers  of  the  little  more  than 
children  who  parade  our  city  streets  after  night- 
fall, prey  to  the  machinations  of  sensual  men? 
Where  is  the  fidelity  of  God's  Vicegerents  to  whose 
trust  He  has  imposed  the  safety  and  the  nurture  of 
immortal  souls  ? 

God  looks  for  faithfulness  in  business:  To 
faithlessness  here  is  largely  due  the  warfare  be- 
tween capital  and  labor;  the  hatred  of  class  for 
class.  Employers  say,  "it  is  hard  to-day  to  procure 
an  honest  workman.  Unless  your  eye  is  forever 
fixed  upon  him  he  scamps  his  work.  There  is  no 
sense  of  stewardship ;  time  is  forever  being  wasted, 
and  the  letter  rather  than  the  spirit  of  endeavor  is 
adhered  to."     Employees  say,  "It  is  hard  to  dis- 


200  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

cover  a  faithful  boss.  We  are  imposed  upon,  we 
are  treated  as  chattels,  rather  than  as  reasonable 
human  beings.  We  are  regarded  as  machines, 
and  if  we  fall  short  of  the  required  toll  we  are 
cast  aside."  The  trouble  is  this:  Men  have  not 
grasped  the  fact  that  they  are  the  stewards  of 
one  another.  There  is  a  lack  of  honest  consider- 
ation upon  either  side.  It  is  required  of  the  cap- 
italist, it  is  required  of  the  workingman,  that  he 
be  found  faithful. 

God  demands  faithfulness  in  a  Nation:  We 
hear  a  great  deal  nowadays  about  the  magnitude 
of  American  resources;  about  our  wealth  of  field 
and  mine  and  forest;  about  our  flowing  acres  of 
golden  wheat ;  about  our  rivers,  and  our  seas  stocked 
with  commissariat  for  the  multitudes.  The  future, 
we  say,  agricultural,  mineral,  marine,  and 
industrial,  is  ours.  And  so,  pride  is  engendered, 
and  a  sense  of  self-sufficiency,  and  an  attitude  of 
over  weening  self-conceit,  until  we  actually  imagine 
that  these  treasures,  realized  and  prospective,  are 
our  own  possessions,  to  be  utilized,  and  exploited, 
as  we  consider  to  be  advantageous  to  ourselves. 

These  things  belong  to  God,  and  if  gratitude 
is  absent,  and  consciousness  of  awe  inspiring  re- 
sponsibility, the  verdict  of  Heaven  upon  our  nation 
will  ultimately  be  the  verdict  pronounced  upon  the 
worldly  husbandman  in  the  gospel,  ''God  says, 
Thou  fool,  thy  soul  is  required  of  thee." 


STEWARDSHIP  201 

Yes:  it  is  required  among  stewards  that  a  man 
he  found  faithful.  What  we  have  innately,  or  ex- 
ternally as  a  matter  of  acquired  acquisition,  is  to 
be  used  not  for  our  selfish  gratification,  but  in  the 
service  of  the  Master,  in  the  spread  of  His  King- 
ship among  the  children  of  men. 

If  a  man  gives  me  money  to  invest  for  him, 
and  I  usurp  the  interest,  and  place  the  dividends 
in  my  own  pocket,  I  am  no  longer  a  trustee,  I  am 
no  more  a  steward,  I  am  a  thief.  There  are  men 
"doing  time"  in  the  penitentiaries  of  this  country 
to-day  for  this  very  behavior.  So,  what  we  have 
and  what  we  are,  is  an  investment  of  God,  and  we 
are  to  render  to  Him  the  legitimate  proceeds.  Life 
is  an  investment;  neither  more  nor  less.  But  life 
is  something  more  than  an  investment.  We  are 
not  only  to  invest  our  capital;  that  is  ourselves 
plus  our  opportunities,  for  Christ;  but  we  are  to 
make  the  best  possible  investment,  we  are  to  re- 
ceive the  greatest  possible  returns  for  the  outlay. 
If  you  entrust  a  large  sum  to  me,  and  say,  "Put  it 
out  at  the  best  advantage,"  and  I  employ  it  at  5 
per  cent,  when  I  might  have  employed  it  with  per- 
fect safety  at  6  per  cent.,  I  am  an  unfaithful  stew- 
ard. We  have  only  one  life  to  invest,  only  one 
opportunity  for  accumulated  profits ;  the  yesterdays 
and  the  to-days  will  never  more  return,  chances 
will  never  again  be  duplicated.  So  we  have  no 
time  to  trifle,  no  occasion  for  slackness.     We  must 


202  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

make  the  most  we  possibly  may  in  the  time  and 
circumstances  at  our  disposal. 

But,  you  say :  Granted  that  we  are  stewards, 
and  that  we  are  under  the  ownership  of  God, 
granted  that  we  are  to  invest  our  talents  and  our 
opportunities,  how  amid  the  maze  of  openings 
around  us  are  we  to  make  the  preeminent  invest- 
ment? Ask  Moses:  He  was  brought  up  as 
the  special  charge  of  a  King's  daughter.  His  boy- 
hood and  youth  were  passed  amid  the  worldly 
advantages  of  Court  Life.  He  was  educated  as  a 
gentleman  of  Egypt.  He  had  prospects  of  earthly 
advancement,  and  lucrative,  authoritative  position. 
Surely  his  future  was  chiseled.  But,  no ;  one  day 
he  looked  abroad  upon  the  world  outside  the  palace 
gates,  and  in  the  sun  scorched  fields  he  beheld  his 
countrymen  in  the  bondage  of  slavery.  And  so  he 
turaed  his  back  upon  his  glowing  prospects,  and 
threw  in  his  lot  with  suffering  humanity.  Did 
it  pay?  From  a  temporal  standpoint,  no,  but 
from  an  eternal  standpoint  triumphantly,  yes.  If 
Moses  had  followed  the  line  of  least  resistance,  and 
walked  the  way  that  was  marked  out  for  him  to 
walk,  he  might  be  interesting  to-day  as  a  mummy, 
but  not  as  the  world's  great  labor  leader,  and  as  the 
immortal  emancipator  of  the  chosen  people. 

Ask  St.  Paul:  Read  that  voluminous  third 
chapter  of  the  Philippians.  See  what  his 
scholastic  privileges  were.     Mark   his   education 


STEWARDSHIP  203 

at  the  feet  of  the  illustrious  Gamaliel.  Realize  that 
he  had  before  him  a  career  sufficient  to  dazzle  any 
man;  that  the  highest  offices  in  Church  and  state 
beckoned  to  his  preeminent  ability.  But  he  cast 
it  all  aside  at  the  call  of  his  persecuted  Master, 
and  went  into  Asia  Minor,  and  into  Europe,  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  of  the  Cross.  Did  it  pay?  In 
the  eyes  of  men,  no ;  but  in  the  eyes  of  Paul  and 
God,  everlastingly,  yes.  Nothing  else  could  have 
paid.  It  was  the  one  investment  commensurate 
with  his  qualifications.  "I  count  all  things  loss 
for  the  excellency  of  Christ  Jesus,  my  Lord." 

Ash  Grenfell:  He  was  reared  in  the  lap  of 
privilege.  Through  influence  and  his  own  inher- 
ent gifts  he  might  have  become  a  leading  physician 
in  the  old  country,  a  Rabbi  in  the  medical  pro- 
fession. But  he  heard  the  call  of  the  fishermen  of 
Labrador,  and  he  repudiated  position  and  civiliza- 
tion that  he  might  attain  the  likeness  of  Jesus 
Christ,  his  God.  Did  it  payf  Ah,  my  friends, 
does  anything  else  pay ;  is  anything  else  really 
worth  while  ?  Ask  David  Livingstone,  ask  Carey, 
ask  General  William  Booth,  ask  Jane  Addams,  ask 
all  the  men  and  women  who  have  devoted  their 
lives  to  the  service  of  their  fellow-men.  They  will 
tell  you  how  to  invest,  and  inform  you  in  the  sin- 
cerity of  Joy  unearthly,  that  it  is  the  one  invest- 
ment for  a  life. 

Look  about  you ;  open  your  eyes  that  you  may 


204  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

see;  behold  on  every  hand  the  burdens  of  men, 
crushed  as  men  are  beneath  the  weight  of  adverse 
circumstances,  and  invest  your  life  for  the  welfare 
of  your  fellow-men.  Oh,  how  can  so  many  of  our 
women  skim  the  surface  of  life,  and  live  butterfly 
existences;  how  can  so  many  of  our  young  men 
absorb  their  manhood  in  tawdry  self-seeking ;  when 
in  this  our  day  and  generation  the  calls  of  God  are 
sounding  on  every  side;  when  there  is  "so  much 
to  do,  and  so  little  time  to  do  it  in  ?" 

Let  us  see  to  it  that  we  serve,  and  that  as 
stewards  we  are  found  faithful. 


THE  DESIRE  TO  SEE  JESUS 
St.  John  12:  21.     "Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus." 

THE  context  is  familiar.  Certain  Greeks,  who 
had  heard  in  their  distant  homes  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  were  anxious  to  test  by  their  own  ex- 
perience the  truth  of  the  extravagant  claims  made 
on  His  behalf,  came  to  Philip  in  Jerusalem  at  the 
time  of  the  Passover  Festival,  and  said:  "Sir,  we 
would  see  Jesus."  It  was  a  significant  incident  as 
viewed  in  connection  with  the  universal  application 
of  Christianity;  that  it  was  not  merely  a  revival 
within  the  borders  of  ancient  Judaism,  but  a  Cath- 
olic Gospel,  as  wide  and  far-reaching  as  the  needs  of 
humanity.  But  the  deepest  value  of  the  enquiry 
for  all  ages,  and  for  all  people,  was  that  it  exempli- 
fied a  perpetuated  desire  of  the  human  heart;  as 
fresh  and  vibrant  in  each  and  every  generation  as 
in  the  moment  of  its  initial  utterance. 

"Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus."  (1)  There  is  the 
world  outside  the  Church:  It  is  borne  in  upon  the 
understanding  of  every  Church  member  who  thinks 


206  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

at  all,  that  there  are  many  people  who  care  nothing 
for  Christianity  as  a  system,  as  an  organized 
society,  but  who,  at  the  same  time,  feel  the  neces- 
sity for  God  in  their  lives,  and  are  amenable  to  the 
fascination  of  Jesns  Christ.  These  people,  hunger- 
ing and  thirsting,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
after  a  faith  to  live  by,  and  when  occasion  demands 
to  die  by,  look  at  the  Church  members  of  their 
acquaintance  with  this  interrogation  in  their  eyes, 
"Sirs,  we  would  see  Jesus.  You  are,  presumably, 
the  possessors  of  His  richest  blessings,  you  are,  self- 
confessed,  the  privileged  partakers  of  His  Life ;  we 
would  see  the  Christ  in  you,  so  that  all  that  we  have 
heard  of  Him,  and  all  that  we  have  yearned  of 
Him,  may  assume  the  proportions  of  a  militant 
advocacy,  and  command  the  allegiance  of  our  hearts 
and  minds." 

This  is,  undoubtedly,  the  pragmatical  spirit  of 
the  age,  and,  as  this  is  the  best  age  that  has  ever 
dawned  upon  the  world,  say  what  we  may,  there 
is  much  in  the  attitude  that  is  admirable,  and  to 
be  commended.  Results  are  the  order  of  the  day ; 
everything  is  gauged  by  the  effect  produced;  and 
the  same  criterion  is  being  applied  to  religion. 
Men  are  tired  of  the  gossamer  dreams  of  theological 
absurdities,  and  have  come  to  lay  the  emphasis  upon 
conduct  to  the  exclusion  of  all  else.  Show  us  your 
life,  man  says  to  man. 

To  be  logical,  we  may,  of  course,  protest  that 


THE  DESIRE  TO  SEE  JESUS  207 

Christ  is  Christ  whatever  the  consistency  or  the  in- 
consistency of  His  reputed  followers;  and  that 
Christianity  is  to  be  judged  by  the  saints  alone,  by 
those  who  have  cooperated  to  the  full  with  Christian 
opportunities ;  but  the  fact  remains  that  the  non- 
church-going  multitude  have  the  right  to  expect  in 
us  a  depth  of  vision,  and  a  wealth  of  goodness, 
which  shall  cause  them  to  take  notice  of  us  that 
we  have  been  with  Jesus. 

Let  us  look  at  the  matter  in  a  'practical  way: 
It  is  altogether  impossible  for  the  priest  to  enter 
the  homes  of  those  who  are  unidentified  with  organ- 
ized Christianity,  and  to  win  over  the  households 
by  pratings,  however  true  such  pratings  may  hap- 
pen to  be,  upon  Baptismal  regeneration,  the  grace 
of  the  Holy  Communion,  justification  by  faith,  and 
all  the  rest  of  generally  accepted  ecclesiastical 
vocabulary.  He  must  have  a  character  to  exhibit ;  a 
character  fostered  in  the  Church  which  is  superior 
to  characters  fostered  outside  the  Church.  He  must 
be  able  to  say :  "Sirs,  ye  would  see  Jesus  ?  Then, 
come  with  me,  and  I  will  show  Him  to  you.  I  have 
a  number  of  people,  men  and  women,  in  whom  you 
will  see  His  Similitude;  in  their  voices  you  will 
recognize  His  Voice;  in  their  faces  you  will  see 
the  light  that  never  was  on  land  and  sea.  Come 
with  me  out  of  these  non-godly  surroundings,  and 
I  will  introduce  you  to  my  Hot  House  Plants  in 
the  Church  of  God."     If  the  priest  may  not  say 


208  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

that,  and  produce  the  evidence  that  proves  his 
words,  then  to  that  degree  and  extent  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world  is  at  stake,  and  the  advent  of  the 
Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ  is  retarded 
in  its  consummation.  Just  so  long  as  men .  and 
women  are  able  to  say  with  justice,  "Why  should  I 
go  to  church ;  I  know  people  who  are  prominent  in 
the  churches,  and  their  standard  of  honesty  in  busi- 
ness, and  their  behavior  in  society,  are  beneath  the 
measurements  which  I  set  myself",  then,  just  so 
long  may  the  Pope  issue  his  encyclicals,  and  preach- 
ers rave  to  the  verge  of  hysteria ;  the  world  at  large 
will  be  individualistic,  self-complacent,  and  mun- 
dane, of  the  earth  earthy. 

If  the  salt  has  lost  its  savor  it  is  useless,  and 
only  fit  to  be  trampled  beneath  the  feet  of  men. 
If  the  leaven  has  lost  its  raising  properties  the 
whole  lump  will  remain  unpalatable,  and  unleav- 
ened. We  must  see  to  it,  then,  my  friends,  that  we 
never  degenerate  into  mere  formalists;  that  we 
never  come  to  church  from  habit  rather  than  from 
spiritual  inclination.  For  people  are  looking  at 
us.  We  would  be  surprised  to  know  how  many 
people  are  looking  at  us ;  and  our  life,  our  conduct, 
not  our  doctrinal  assertiveness,  are  influencing  the 
men  and  women  who  do  not  profess  to  have  ever 
seen  Jesus  Christ. 

(2)  There  is  the  world  inside  the  Church: 
Remember  I  am  trying  to  be  thoroughly  simple, 


THE  DESIRE  TO  SEE  JESUS  209 

and  desperately  practical.  There  is  the  world  in- 
side the  Church.  What  is  it  that  the  congregation 
asks  from  their  minister?  Surely  this:  "Sir,  we 
would  see  Jesus."  This,  of  course,  has  to  do  with 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  The  preacher  must 
preach  Christ,  the  saving  truths  of  His  Life,  His 
Death,  His  Resurrection,  and  His  abiding  com- 
panionship with  man ;  and,  as  governed  by  his  abil- 
ity, in  such  glowing  terms  that  the  Living  Jesus 
will  be  seen  and  felt.  "I  have  seen  Jesus,  Jesus 
working,  hoping,  loving;  I  have  been  at  the  foot 
of  the  Cross  with  Mary  and  John,  and  the  little 
group  of  faithful  friends,  and  seen  the  Master 
die;  I  have  been  on  Olivet,  and  seen  the  Saviour 
ascending  to  His  Father's  Home,  with  hands  out- 
stretched in  blessing",  that  is  the  true  appreciation 
of  a  sermon.  But  the  requisite  is  wider  than  this : 
The  congregation  demands  that  the  minister  shall 
show  Christ  in  his  life.  As  someone  has  said,  "the 
world  will  only  begin  to  take  Christianity  seriously 
when  the  clergy  take  it  seriously".  The  average 
layman  and  woman  will  not  countenance  for  one 
moment  a  life  that  contradicts  profession.  The 
immoral  priest,  the  worldly  priest,  is  not  merely  in 
danger  of  losing  the  ability  to  appreciate  God,  but 
he  is  in  immanent  peril  of  losing  his  means  of  live- 
lihood. People  in  this  century  care  little  for  apos- 
tolic succession,  they  look  for  a  succession  of 
apostolic  virtues.     The  vision  of  the  pure  in  heart 


210  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

is  thought  more  of  than  the  mechanical  validity 
of  ordination.  "Sir,  we  would  know,  not  your 
university  degree,  not  the  length  of  your  phylac- 
teries, we  would  know  if  you  really  mean  what 
you  say ;  if  your  week-days  harmonize  with  your 
Sundays.  In  truth.  Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus;  the 
uncompromising  Judge  of  His  fellow-men,  as  well 
as  the  compassionate  forgetter  of  their  imperfec- 
tions." 

Then,  to  pass  to  the  other  side  of  the  matter: 
What  is,  or  at  any  rate,  what  should  he  the  consum- 
ing ambition  of  the  priest  with  regard  to  his  con- 
gregation? Not  merely  to  have  his  church  filled  to 
capacity,  to  have  every  available  pew  rented  to  the 
most  propitious  tenant,  to  have  the  finances  of  the 
institution  in  excellent  shape.  All  these  things  are 
to  be  desired;  they  show  which  way  the  wind  is 
blowing ;  they  may  be  outward  and  visible  signs  of 
an  inward  grace  that  possesses  one  and  all ;  they  are 
calculated  to  refresh  the  energies  of  a  man  whose 
profession  calls  for  an  alarming  expenditure  of 
nervous  force ;  but  if  this  were  all,  why,  then,  the 
priest  might  as  well  be  an  actor,  or  the  promoter  of 
a  secular  club ;  for  in  such  callings,  good  houses  and 
a  paying  concern,  would  undoubtedly  be  his  heri- 
tage. The  great  object  for  which  he  works  is  spir- 
itual results.  All  else  is  subordinated  to  that. 
Nothing  else  counts.  Is  Christ  becoming  a  potent 
personality  among  his  parishioners ;  are  people  bet- 


THE  DESIRE  TO  SEE  JESUS  211 

ter  at  the  end  of  the  year  than  they  were  at  the 
beginning;  is  there  a  bigger  courage  for  the  cam- 
paign of  living,  and  a  more  pronounced  equanimity 
in  the  face  of  inevitable  death;  have  the  multitu- 
dinous sermonizings  produced  any  visible  revolu- 
tion in  the  atmosphere  of  the  parochial  family ;  are 
people  kinder,  and  less  critical  than  they  used  to 
be ;  has  the  constant  reception  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment fed  the  spiritually  starving  into  the  semblance 
of  health,  and  nurtured  the  saints  to  greater  holiness 
of  life  ?  These  are  the  questions  that  he  asks,  and 
upon  the  answers  he  measures  the  failure  or  the 
success  of  his  ministry.  "Sirs,  I  would  see  Jesus." 
Let  us,  then,  my  friends,  appreciate  for  what 
it  is  worth  the  practical,  business-like  judgment  of 
the  outside  world ;  let  us  so  live  in  the  daily  round, 
the  common  task,  as  well  as  in  the  days  when  the 
crises  of  existence  come,  that  men  may  take  note 
of  us  that  we  have  been  with  Jesus;  let  us  pray 
for  a  sacred  ministry  in  truth,  one  that  may  reach 
up  to  the  utmost  requirements  of  God  and  man; 
and,  let  us  so  behave  as  Christians  that  the  parish 
to  which  we  belong  may  be  a  center  of  spiritual 
education  in  the  community ;  that  men  and  women 
entering  our  midst  with  the  world-worn  interroga- 
tion on  their  lips,  "Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus,"  may 
find  Jesus  there. 


STICKING  TO  IT 
Ephesians  6:  13.     "Having  done  all,  to  stand." 

'T^HE  writer  was  speaking  to  a  Canadian  friend 
■'■  recently  about  the  prospects  of  Allied  victory 
in  this  present  European  war.  He  enumerated  the 
disastrous  Gallipoli  campaign,  or  expedition,  in  its 
roll  call  of  one  hundred  thousand  dead ;  the  failure 
of  the  French  and  English  contingents  despatched 
to  Greece  to  check  the  German-Bulgarian  invasion 
of  Servia,  etc.,  etc.,  as  instances  of  Franco-British 
incompetency.  He  dilated  upon  the  panoramic 
stupidity  of  the  conduct  of  the  war  to  date  by  the 
armies  and  governing  powers  of  the  Entente 
Nations  in  true  layman  vituperative  eloquence ;  for 
his  heart  was  temporarily  sick,  sick  unto  death,  of 
the  slowness  of  the  victory  of  the  cause  which  he 
considers  to  be  the  cause  of  democracy,  and  human- 
ity. His  friend  answered  the  various  charges  in 
detail,  and  minimized  the  force  of  current  and  past 
disasters,  and  then  summed  up  his  exhortatory 
statements  with  this  striking  phrase,  ''You  know  we 


STICKING  TO  IT  213 

Britishers  may  make  mistakes,  as  a  matter  of  fact 
we  are  prone  to  make  mistakes,  hut  we  never  give 
inJ^  He  was  right.  Whatever  we  may  or  may  not 
think  of  the  happenings  of  the  recent  thirty-months 
so  far  as  England  and  the  English  are  concerned, 
we  must  confess  that  the  Bulldog  is  an  apt  and  true 
symbol  of  the  English  character,  and  that  history 
is  a  commentary  upon  the  truism  that  an  English- 
man never  knows  when  he  is  beaten,  and  so  is  sel- 
dom, if  ever,  thoroughly  vanquished.  "We  may 
make  mistakes,  hut  we  never  give  in." 

The  writer  had  the  privilege  of  spending  sev- 
eral years  of  his  life  at  the  University  of  Oxford. 
Although  at  that  time  a  physical  weakling  himself, 
and  unable  to  take  any  part  in  athletic  sports,  he 
was  from  previous  experience,  and  innate  predi- 
lection, deeply  interested  in  all  that  appertains  to 
physical  prowess.  Eights  Week,  when  the  twenty- 
six  colleges  in  the  University  of  Oxford  contend 
for  the  rowing  mastery  of  the  river,  was  always  a 
delight  to  him,  and  he  was  year  by  year  an  inter- 
ested spectator  of  the  herculean  tests  of  strength 
upon  the  Isis.  The  unfailing  wonder  of  the  com- 
petitive races  to  him  was  always  the  way  in  which 
the  eight  in  each  boat  put  their  unlimited,  and 
uttermost,  muscle  and  grit  into  the  task  that  they 
had  in  hand.  Backs  were  bent,  arms  were  strained, 
and  hearts  were  pumped  to  breaking  point  from  the 
beginning  of  the  race  to  the  finishing  line.     This 


214  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

was  so  marked  that  when  the  goal  was  reached 
every  man  in  every  shell  was  in  a  fainting  con- 
dition ;  as  the  saying  is,  "he  was  rowed  out" ;  and 
resuscitation  was  achieved  by  a  brief  resting,  bent 
backed,  over  the  oar,  and  a  merciful  splashing  of 
water  over  the  steaming  bodies  of  the  oarsmen  by 
brothers  less  fatigued  than  their  fellows.  It  was 
bad  form  for  the  individual  to  reach  the  winning 
or  the  losing  post  in  any  other  than  an  obviously 
exhausted  condition.  It  meant  that  he  had  not 
put  his  last  ounce  of  capacity  into  the  effort  to 
bring  his  boat  to  victory.  Whether  the  progress 
of  the  race  had  been  a  progress  of  failure,  or  other- 
wise, it  made  no  difference  in  the  strenuosity  of  the 
exertions  of  the  rower;  whether  the  coxswain  had 
steered  a  good  course  or  a  bad  course  the  attitude  of 
doing  one's  best  was  the  same ;  there  was  a  stich-to- 
it-ness  about  the  whole  performance  that  was,  to 
say  the  least,  an  inspiration  to  the  idle  onlooker, 
and  a  source  of  unalloyed  admiration  of  his  fellow- 
man.  There  was  pluck,  there  was  a  ''do  it,  if  I 
die"  atmosphere ;  there  was  an  unswerving  tenacity 
of  purpose  that  warmed  the  cockles  of  one's  heart, 
and  made  one  realize  the  cause  of  British  dominion 
in  the  four  quarters  of  the  world. 

The  average  Englishman,  as  judged  by  our 
standards,  may  have  but  little  sense  of  humor ;  he 
may  appear  at  times  childlike  in  the  simplicity  of 
his  faith  and  conviction;  he  may  seem  unfeeling. 


STICKING  TO  IT  215 

and  scarcely  human,  in  his  suppression  of  emotion ; 
but  he  is  possessed  of  a  pertinacity  of  resolve,  he 
is  enamoured  of  a  consistency  of  purpose,  that  com- 
pensate for  whatever  may  appear  to  be  lacking  in 
originality  of  conception,  and  brilliancy  of  execu- 
tion. He  never  gives  in,  and  he  holds  on  like 
grimmest  death  itself.  This  is,  of  course,  seeking 
a  national  illustration  of  the  truth  vi^hich  the  writer 
would  enforce,  and  is  devoid  in  intention  of  any 
special  pleading  for  the  Englishman  as  differenti- 
ated from  the  American  or  the  Hottentot. 

Here  is  an  individual  instance  of  the  adhesive 
quality,  which  we  are  writing  about,  and  which  we 
intend  shortly  to  apply  to  the  religious  life.  There 
was  a  case  in  one  of  the  Toronto  hospitals  a  few 
years  ago  which  had  baffled  the  ingenuity  of 
diagnosis,  and  the  skilfulness  of  treatment,  of 
many  leading  physicians  of  the  Queen  City.  A 
man  of  sixty  years  of  age  was  wasting  away 
day  by  day,  losing  strength  hourly,  and  approxi- 
mating visibly  the  vanishing  point  of  vitality.  He 
was  in  the  public  wards,  and  was,  so  far  as  his  past 
was  concerned,  a  stranger  to  all  involved.  It  was 
impossible  to  discover  by  the  minutest  physical 
examination,  frequently  repeated,  what  was  the 
matter  with  him.  It  chanced  that  at  that  time  Sir 
William  Osier,  Regius  Professor  of  Medicine  in 
the  University  of  Oxford,  well  known  in  this  coun- 
try through  his  lengthy  connection  with  the  Johns 


216  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

Hopkins  University,  and  his  post  prandial  jest  of 
the  advisability  of  chloroforming  people  of  a  cer- 
tain age,  was  in  Canada,  and  in  the  city  of  Toronto. 
He  was  called  in  by  some  of  his  medical  confreres 
to  give  his  opinion  of  the  elusive  patient  who  was 
outwitting  in  his  malady  the  science  of  the  superin- 
tendent, and  assistants,  or  house  doctors,  of  the 
particular  hospital  of  which  we  speak.  He  looked 
the  man  over  thoroughly ;  tapped  and  pummelled 
him  in  true,  and  approved  fashion ;  enquired  into 
his  family  history,  and  gained  through  cross-ques- 
tioning an  accurate  knowledge  of  his  life's  habits. 
Then  to  the  interested  interrogation  of  his  fellow- 
physicians  he  pronounced  this  verdict,  "The  man  is 
dying  of  want  of  a  drink" !  Alcohol,  in  graded 
doses,  would  have,  in  his  opinion,  saved  the  man's 
life.  The  remedy  was  suggested  forcibly  to  the 
patient,  and  it  was  expected  that  he  would  readily 
fall  in  with  the  proposed  cure.  But,  no;  the  man 
refused  to  take  a  drink  even  if  his  life  depended 
upon  it.  He  had  been  a  drunkard  for  many  years ; 
then  he  had  seen  the  error  of  his  ways,  and  had 
determined  to  eradicate  the  habit  whatever  the  con- 
sequences. He  was  willing  to  forfeit  his  life  to 
have  the  privilege  of  dying  sober.  That  was  an 
instance  of  individual  stick-to-it-ness  that  was 
surely  commendable  from  a  moral  and  a  religious 
standpoint.  It  is  an  instance  that  has  often  been 
duplicated  in  the  writer's  knowledge  in  the  case  of 


STICKING  TO  IT  217 

victims  from  the  morphine  and  drug  habits.  Such 
sternness  of  resolution  must  undoubtedly  go  a  long 
way  in  redeeming  the  record  of  a  misspent  past 
in  the  estimation  of  the  Judge  of  all  the  world  who 
ever  doeth  right ! 

Kow  this  same  persistency  of  behavior  which 
we  have  illustrated  nationally  and  individually, 
and  of  course,  it  would  be  possible  to  multiply  in- 
stances ad  infinitum,  is  conspicuous  upon  all  sides ; 
we  know  men  in  business,  and  in  professional  life 
who  go  upon  the  principle  that  "dogged  does  it," 
who  rise  superior  to  all  rebuffs,  and  shadowing  of 
circumstance,  and  hold  to  their  purpose  of  achieve- 
ment "through  thick  and  thin."  We  know  women, 
delicate,  frail  women  who  are  rearing  families  in 
the  face  of  all  conceivable  adversity,  and  holding  to 
their  responsibilities  in  the  vortex  of  perpetuated 
oppositions,  financial  and  otherwise.  It  is  our 
knowledge  of,  and  acquaintance  with,  these  sub- 
merged heroisms,  for  they  are  heroisms  seldom 
alluded  to  by  the  heroes  and  heroines  themselves 
and  little  known  outside  the  immediate  circle  of 
their  friendships,  that  give  the  salt  life,  and  the 
flavor  that  makes  existence  palatable,  and  appreci- 
ated. The  firmament  of  secular  life  is  literally 
stre^vn  with  these  light  giving  stars  which  enervate 
the  darkness  of  terrestrial  experience,  and  give  us 
courage  to  endure  the  monotonies  of  the  daily  round, 
the  common  task. 


218  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

But,  liow  is  it  ivitli  the  Religious  Shies;  are 
thej  irradiated  with  shining  examples  of  con- 
sistent persistency,  and  emblazoned  with  fixed 
points  of  illuminative  fortitude  of  purpose  ?  Would 
that  we  could  answer  "yes"  in  all  sincerity,  and 
with  pronounced  emphasis  of  conviction.  The  fact 
is  that,  speaking  generally,  the  stick-to-it-ness  of 
secular  life  is  not  conspicuous  to  the  same  degree 
and  extent  in  religious  life ;  that  people  who  will 
follow  prosperity  through  the  valleys  and  over  the 
mountains  of  material  obstructions  will  take  fright 
at  a  molehill  or  a  ditch  that  confronts  them  in 
their  pilgrimage  from  self  to  God.  This  is  the 
altogether  appalling  weakness  of  the  exhibition  of 
Christianity  in  the  world.  People  assume  Christian 
obligations  and  they  do  not  carry  them  out  for  any 
appreciable  length  of  time ;  they  are  forever  blow- 
ing hot  and  cold;  they  take  a  stand,  and  then, 
instead  of  running  the  race  that  is  set  before  them 
they  are  unaccountably  sitting  upon  the  banks 
along  the  roadside  impervious  to  all  promptings 
and  proddings  of  revivication ;  they  set  their  hand 
to  the  plow,  and  just  when  you  expect  a  well-turned 
furrow  of  endeavor,  richly  tossed  and  fragrant  with 
possibility,  they  are  looking  back,  and  so  proving 
themselves  unworthy  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

There  is  Confirmation:  There  is  no  time,  per- 
haps, in  the  Christian  life  when  hearts  are  more 
susceptible  to  the  promptings  of  conscience,  and 


STICKING  TO  IT  219 

when  people  are  more  resolutely  determined  to  do 
the  right  at  all  costs.  There  is  a  self-conscious 
dedication  of  the  personality  to  God,  and  a  "woe 
is  me"  if  I  do  not  consistently  follow  the  light  that 
never  was  on  land  and  sea.  And  yet — what  is  the 
experience  of  the  average  parish  priest  ?  It  is 
an  experience  vouched  for  by  the  writer  who  just 
before  leaving  a  former  field  of  work  looked  over 
his  confirmation  records  of  the  previous  eight  years 
and  discovered  that,  eliminating  deaths  and  re- 
movals, only  some  45  per  cent,  of  those  whom  he 
had  prepared  for  Confirmation  were  systematic 
communicants  of  the  Church,  and  faithful  in  their 
observance  of  Churchly  duties.  Lapsed  commun- 
icants— why,  the  phrase  comprises  the  great  heart- 
ache of  the  ordinary  clergyman's  life.  The  "never- 
give-in,"  and  the  "stick-to-it"  are  conspicuous  by 
their  absence. 

There  is  Church  WorTc :  It  is  true  that  in  every 
parish  the  number  of  people  actively  engaged  in 
the  organizational  life  of  the  parish  is  altogether 
disproportionate  to  the  enrolled  membership. 
Somehow  or  other  men  and  women  feel  that  Chris- 
tianity is  something  to  get  rather  than  to  give,  and 
that  a  receptive  attitude  is  all  that  is  demanded. 
But,  the  greatest  difficulty  in  parish  work  is  not 
due  to  the  fact  that  comparatively  few  people  come 
forward  and  offer  themselves  for  the  organized 
activities  of  the  local  church,  it  is  that  those  who 


220  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

do  undertake  definite  responsibilities  in  this  con- 
nection fail  to  persist  in  their  efforts.  There  are 
those  who  are  the  embodiment  of  fidelity,  who  are 
always  to  be  found  in  their  places  doing  their 
allotted  work;  they  are  the  backbone  of  the  insti- 
tutional side  of  every  parish's  life,  and  great  is 
their  reward  in  heaven.  But,  there  are  so  many 
people  who  join  this  or  that  society;  who  persevere 
for  a  time,  and  then  in  some  mysterious  fashion 
lose  their  enthusiasm  and  sense  of  consecration  to 
the  work,  and  fall  away  into  desuetude.  In  think- 
ing of  them  one  is  always  reminded  of  a  particular 
class  of  hearers  in  the  Master's  Parable  of  The 
Sower:  "They  on  the  rock  are  they  which,  when 
they  hear,  receive  the  word  with  joy;  and  these 
have  no  root,  which  for  a  ivliile  believe,  and  in 
time  of  temptation  fall  away." 

There  is  Church  Attendance:  It  is  a  bad  thing 
to  harp  upon  the  subject  of  church  attendance, 
and  fortunately  in  many  churches  it  is  unneces- 
sary so  to  do;  it  is  a  bad  thing  to  harp  upon  it 
because  there  is  an  ill-concealed  belief,  and,  per- 
haps, well  founded,  that  the  priest  is  an  advocate 
for  the  maintenance  of  his  self-respect  in  so  doing, 
and  also  because  church  attendance  is  not  by  any 
means  the  only  criterion  of  the  Christian  enthusi- 
asm of  Christians;  but  the  way  in  which  people 
come  to  church  when  they  feel  like  it,  and  stay 
away  from   the  church  when  they  feel  like  it; 


STICKING  TO  IT  221 

the  way  in  which  they  are  to  be  seen  in  their  pews 
at  intervals,  and  then,  for  no  apparent  reason, 
are  not  to  he  seen  in  their  pews  at  all;  is  one  of 
the  insoluble  problems  of  human  nature  capable  of 
elucidation  by  a  psychologist  alone !  There  is  a 
coming  and  a  going;  there  is  a  staying  and  a  stay- 
ing away;  there  is  a  heat,  a  luke-warmness,  and 
an  icy  frigidity  of  performance,  that  bewilder  the 
mentality  of  the  man  who  would  seek  to  decipher 
the  cryptic  conundrum.  Imagine  any  one  in  his 
or  her  senses  saying,  "I  never  give  in  in  church 
attendance,  rain  or  shine,  sound  health  or  indis- 
postion,  good  preacher  or  poor ;  I  am  always  in  my 
place  of  a  Sunday !"  Imagine  anyone  in  his  or 
her  senses  saying  "I  always  stick  to  the  perform- 
ance, the  external  performance,  of  my  churchly 
obligations ;  unlet  or  unhindered  by  serious  illness, 
I  never  miss  a  service  on  the  Sabbath !"  Why,  it  is 
hard  to  imagine  such  an  utterance,  or  such  utter- 
ances, proceeding  from  the  lips  of  anyone.  It  car- 
ries a  suggestion  of  the  time  when  the  lion  and 
the  lamb  shall  lie  down  together,  and  a  little  child 
shall  lead  all  the  opposing  forces  of  humanity  in 
perfect  union  and  accord,  and  the  sun  of  the  Mil- 
lenium shall  have  arisen  upon  the  near  horizon! 
I^ow,  the  question  arises :  Why  is  it  that  people 
in  general  have  so  little  adhesiveness  in  the  Chris- 
tian life?  It  seems  to  the  writer  that  the  answer 
is  twofold,  and  that  the  first  division  includes  the 


222  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

second.  First,  those  who  give  in,  and  who  do  not 
stick  to  it,  in  the  Christian  lif  e^  are  not  sufficiently 
in  earnest  in  their  profession.  The  Englishman 
is  going  to  do  his  best  to  win  this  war,  he  is  not 
going  to  despair  whatever  the  adverse  circumstances 
aimed  against  final  victory,  because  he  is,  and  he 
knows  it,  fighting  for  national  honor,  and  for  life 
itself.  He  counts  no  sacrifice  too  great,  no  loss, 
even  the  loss  of  life,  to  pay  for  a  satisfactory 
adjustment  of  eventualities.  The  oarsman  at 
Oxford  exhausts  his  physical  force  and  his 
nervous  energy  to  the  uttermost,  because  he 
would  win  over  his  opponent  at  all  costs,  and  deems 
conquest  sufficient  compensation  for  all  temporary 
discomfort  of  arm  and  limb,  of  heart  and  back. 
The  reformed  drunkard  was  willing  to  die  rather 
than  resort  to  the  use  of  spiritous  liquors  which 
had  held  him  in  a  galling  servitude  for  years 
because  he  considered  death  preferable  to  the  thral- 
dom of  a  pernicious  habit.  He  had  rather  die  as  a 
freeman  than  live  as  a  slave.  So  with  all  those 
men  and  women  who  count  difficulties  but  dross 
to  be  cast  on  one  side  in  order  that  they  may 
achieve  success,  and  prosperity  of  living.  They 
were,  and  they  are,  in  uncompromising  earnest 
seeking  the  goal  which  they  account  worthy  of  all 
batterings  of  fortune  or  circumstance,  and  for 
which  they  are  willing  to  forego  all  primrose  paths 
of  dalliance.    A  like  earnestness  in  our  Christian 


STICKING  TO  IT  223 

convictions  would  lead  to  an  expression  of  similar 
indomitability.  If  we  really  felt  that  the  one  thing- 
worth  while  would  be  to  be  found  in  the  likeness  of 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  and  to  seek  preeminently 
the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,  we 
would  not  be  dismayed,  nor  swerved  from  our  in- 
tention, whatever  the  opposition  arrayed  against 
the  consummation  of  our  hearts'  desire.  We  are 
not  thoroughly  in  earnest,  that  is  the  trouble,  we 
are  not  sufficiently  convinced  of  the  superlative 
efficacy  of  pressing  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize 
of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  We 
are  half-hearted,  thin-souled,  and  anaemic-minded 
in  our  Christian  calling.  Someone  has  said  "Chris- 
tianity has  never  been  tried."  There  is  more  than 
a  modicum  of  truth  in  the  statement.  The  reason 
that  Christianity  has  never  been  tried  is  because 
Christians  are  not  sufficiently  Christianized;  they 
are  not  impressed  and  obsessed  with  the  all-im- 
portance of  the  Christian  interpretation  of  life. 
They  are  endeavoring  to  bolster  up  a  compromise 
between  time  and  eternity,  between  the  body  and 
the  soul,  between  God  and  mammon,  and  the  at- 
tempted compromise  vitiates  that  enthusiasm,  that 
persistent  enthusiasm,  that  rises  superior  to  all 
inimical  agencies.  The  only  dream  worth  dream- 
ing, and  the  only  vision  worth  seeing,  is  the  dream 
that  is  not  dreamed  through,  and  the  vision  that 
stops  short  of  synthetic  fulfilment. 


224  THE  MAN  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH 

The  other  reason  why  people  are  transients 
rather  than  citizens  in  the  City  of  the  Christian 
Life,  and  it  is  included  in  the  foregoing,  is  that 
it  is  desperately  hard  to  be  a  Christian  at  the  best 
of  times,  and,  humanly  speaking,  impossible  to  be 
a  Christian  at  the  worst  of  times.  There  is  no 
warfare  like  unto  the  warfare  of  the  flesh  against 
the  spirit ;  there  is  no  subjugation  so  blood-letting 
as  the  conquest  of  wild  beasts  at  Ephesus.  What 
we  would  we  do  not,  and  that  which  we  would  not, 
we  do.  The  strife  is  fierce ;  the  ^\Testling  is  against 
principalities  and  powers  in  high  places;  and  our 
opponent  is  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  we 
breathe  him,  and  he  surrounds  us  on  all  sides.  Our 
motive  is  willing,  but  our  practice  is  perforce  weak. 
It  all  comes  back,  you  see,  to  a  question  of  the 
quality  and  intensity  of  our  earnestness.  If  we 
are  strong  we  may  utilize  our  strength  to  the  utter- 
most, and,  moreover,  such  is  our  doctrine,  and  with 
many  of  us  our  experience,  we  have  a  strength  to 
call  upon  which  is  not  our  o\ati.  "His  grace  is  suf- 
ficient for  us ;  and  His  Strength  is  made  perfect 
in  weakness."  Give  me  a  man  as  earnest  in  his 
Christian  life  as  he  is  in  his  business  life ;  who 
overcomes  by  sheer  force  of  character  all  the  im- 
pediments that  beset  the  accomplishment  of  his 
secular  purposes ;  and  I  will  show  you  a  man  who 
by  the  Help  of  God  will  come  triumphantly  through 
all  the  obstructions  that  hinder  his  progress  from 


STICKING  TO  IT  225 

earth  to  heaven.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  conviction, 
and  realization;  conviction  of  the  supreme  desir- 
ability of  being,  despite  everything,  a  Christian, 
and  a  realization  of  the  horses  and  chariots  of  fire 
which  surround  Elisha. 

"8tiching  to  it."  Let  us  take  these  words  out 
of  their  cold  print,  and  vivify  them  in  our  heart 
and  life.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  us,  truthfully 
or  falsely,  when  we  come  to  die,  let  our  friends 
have  the  privilege  of  saying,  and  our  enemies  have 
the  unhappiness  of  being  compelled  to  admit :  "He 
never  gave  in."  "Of  the  Jews  five  times  received  I 
forty  stripes  save  one.  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with 
rods,  once  was  I  stoned,  thrice  I  suffered  ship- 
wreck, a  night  and  a  day  I  have  been  in  the  deep ; 
in  journey ings  often,  in  perils  of  waters,  in  perils 
of  robbers,  in  perils  by  mine  own  countrymen,  in 
perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils 
in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils 
among  false  brethren;  in  weariness  and  painful- 
ness,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in 
fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness.  Besides  those 
things  that  are  without,  that  which  cometh  upon 
me  daily,  the  care  of  all  the  churches.  The  Grod 
and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  is 
blessed  forevermore,  knoweth  that  I  lie  not." 

What  an  epitaph  to  travel  down  along  the  ages ! 
What  an  example  of  stick-to-it-ness  to  you  and  to 
me! 


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